The University of the Fraser Valley women's volleyball team dropped their playoff opener on the road in Langley on Thursday, falling in three sets to the Trinity Western Spartans.
The Spartans, who hold down the No. 1 spot in the U SPORTS national rankings, prevailed 25-20, 25-16, 25-15 at the Langley Events Centre in the first match of Pool A round-robin play for both teams.
In other Pool A action on Thursday, the Brandon Bobcats outlasted the Calgary Dinos in a five-set thriller (25-20, 26-28, 22-25, 25-19, 20-18) at the UFV Athletic Centre.
The Cascades now enjoy home court advantage for the balance of the first round of the post-season, by virtue of the fact they're co-hosting the pool with Trinity Western. They take on Brandon on Friday (6 p.m.) and Calgary on Saturday (4 p.m.) at the UFV Athletic Centre.
"I feel like we played the best we've played Trinity Western so far," Cascades head coach
Janelle Rozema said afterward, alluding to the fact her squad faced the Spartans four times during the regular season. "Our goal is to peak at the right time, so to play a team that's played us tough in the past and have a competitive match against them gives us hope.
"We get the next two games at home, but (losing the round-robin opener) obviously puts more pressure on us, though, to have to take the next two games to have a solid chance to advance. But our group has responded well to pressure in the past, and this will be a good experience for us.
"We want to show that not only are we worthy to quality for playoffs, we want to show we're worthy of advancing to the next round."
TWU edged past the Cascades through a strong defensive effort by the entire lineup, holding UFV to a kill rate of .026. The Spartans hit .250 on the night.
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The Cascades hung with the Spartans during a closely contested first set – the two teams were level at 14-14, but TWU's Savannah Purdy went on a service run to help her team open a four-point lead, and they kept UFV at bay from there. Purdy registered three aces in the set.
The Spartans carried the momentum throughout the second set, limiting the Cascades to six kills en route to a 25-16 triumph.
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UFV dealt with some adversity early in the third as right side
Sadie Wilson was forced to exit due to injury. TWU built an early 6-1 lead, but the Cascades battled back to tie it 9-9 with
Grace Warkentin picking up a trio of kills in quick succession. The Spartans pulled away from there, though, closing out the match 25-15.
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Warkentin led UFV in kills, finishing with six kills on a rate of .312. Wilson registered five kills, while
Amanda Matsui was limited to three kills.
Cailin Bitter posted 19 assists, and
Emily Matsui's 13 digs were a team-high.
Ansah Odoom (nine kills) and Meaghan Mealey (eight kills) were the most prolific Spartans on the night.
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