The UBC Okanagan Heat made a stunning fifth-set comeback, staving off three match points on their way to victory over the University of the Fraser Valley women's volleyball team on Sunday evening in Abbotsford.
The Cascades appeared to be in control in the fifth set, leading 14-11, only to watch the Heat reel off four straight points and eventually close out the match (25-22, 22-25, 20-25, 25-19, 17-15).Â
The Cascades (5-10) and Heat (8-5) clash again on Monday (3 p.m., UFV Athletic Centre) in the regular-season finale for UFV.
"I think our athletes are still working towards figuring out our identity in tight games and big games," UFV assistant coach
Katie Ball analyzed afterward. "The more experience we have with them, the more sure they'll feel of themselves in those situations."
The Cascades had a solid start to the match, opening a 6-3 lead in the first set behind an
Alicja Hardy-Francis service run. The Heat answered with a four-point surge of their own, and it was closely contested the rest of the way. But with the score tied 22-22, UBCO got a kill from Sydney Grills and benefitted from a pair of UFV attacking errors to take the set 25-22. The Heat's Jade Bussard led all players with five kills in the set.
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Amanda Matsui got going in the second set for UFV, notching five kills of her own in the frame, and the Cascades were able to pull away late to take it 25-22, capped by a Hardy-Francis block.
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Matsui continued to cook in the third set, and key kills down the stretch from
Kristen McBride and
Mo Likness helped the hosts to a 25-20 victory.
The Heat were on fire to start the fourth, taking a 10-4 lead after back-to-back kills from Kendall Stephen and Natalie Funk. They stretched that advantage to 23-15, and while a four-point UFV run featuring a pair of Matsui kills with McBride at the service line gave the Cascades momentary hope, Bussard blasted consecutive kills to extend the match, 25-19.
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The Cascades dominated the early portion of the fifth, building an 8-3 lead at the technical timeout, and they were up 14-11 after a Bussard service error. But the next four points went the Heat's way, with Grills registering a pair of kills. While UFV was able to survive one match point, UBCO made good on the second as a Grills ace ended it 17-15.
Matsui had a big night for the Cascades, racking up a game-high 25 kills on .422 hitting, to go with 16 digs.
Sadie Wilson contributed seven kills, and
Emily Matsui and
Kristen McBride posted 15 digs apiece.
Bussard (17 kills) and Grills (15 kills) were the most potent members of the Heat, and setter Abigail Dueck registered 39 assists.
"This is a (UBCO) team that loves to swing . . . and they have a bunch of threats," Ball said afterward, noting that the Cascades did a lot of good things against a tough Heat squad. "I think that our middle blockers did a great job of reading their offence and getting their hands in the right spot. We had some pretty cool blocking performances from Mo and Alicja. I think our outsides found their swing against really big blockers, and that was cool to see. That's a big step for our team – playing against teams that have three huge blockers in the front row and still having the courage to put the ball away."
The Cascades honoured their three graduating seniors –
Amanda Matsui,
Stephanie Demeules and
Sadie Wilson – over the course of their home games this week.
"What they've meant to the program is, they had the courage to stick with the program in the jump from college to U SPORTS," UFV head coach
Janelle Rozema said, reflecting on the contributions of the graduating trio. "They rose to a new challenge and were the leaders who have led this group on a tough endeavor."
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