The University of the Fraser Valley men's volleyball team made the UBC Thunderbirds sweat, extending the first three sets of Friday's Canada West playoff clash to extra points, but the T-Birds ultimately fended off the Cascades' upset bid and prevailed in four.
The Cascades had their chances in the first two sets, but UBC's execution was sharper in the late stages of both, and they took them by scores of 27-25 and 26-24.
The T-Birds were poised to end it in three, leading 24-22 in the third, but UFV fended off a trio of match points and won it 27-25.
Nimo Benne and
Caleb Kastelein had crucial kills down the stretch as the Cascades extended the match.
The UFV bandwagon ran out of gas in the fourth, as UBC pulled away to close it out in decisive fashion, 25-18.
The Cascades fall to 0-2 in Pool B playoff action hosted by the Alberta Golden Bears. They wrap up the round robin on Saturday vs. the Saskatchewan Huskies (3 p.m. MT, 2 p.m. PT), while the Thunderbirds (1-1) face the Golden Bears (8 p.m. MT, 7 p.m. PT). Saskatchewan and Alberta are both 1-0 heading into their Friday evening clash at the Saville Community Sports Centre.
"I'm very proud of our guys," Cascades head coach
Nathan Bennett said. "They played a complete match with a battle level that we've seen spurts of in the past. They managed to have a consistent effort over the entire match, and that shows growth over a tumultuous year. I couldn't be happier to see what they can do on the big stage."
The Cascades got big games from a pair of attackers. Right side Benne registered a team-high 16 kills and hit .448, and middle
Noah Bouius had 13 kills on 18 swings with no errors for a scorching .722 hitting percentage. Kastelein added 12 kills for UFV and came up particularly big late in sets, while setter
Jonas Van Huizen dished out 44 assists.
"That was Noah's best match offensively that we've seen all season," Bennett said. "Nimo is dealing with some adversity, and he had a huge match today, too. And Jonas had a great performance by sticking to the game plan and finding guys that were hot."
Abbotsford product Cole Brandsma had a huge game against his hometown team, racking up a game-high 26 kills and hitting .467 for the T-Birds. Michael Dowhaniuk added 14 kills, Zarley Zalusky chipped in with nine kills on 13 swings, and setter Mason Greves posted 50 assists.
UBC was the more efficient team offensively, hitting .417 to the Cascades' .268, but UFV was the more dangerous team from the service line, with a 10-7 edge in aces.
