Abbotsford, BC –
Mo Likness matched a career-high with 12 kills, and
Emily Matsui set a new personal best with 30 digs, as the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades picked up the four-set victory (24-26, 25-14, 25-23, 25-20) over the University of Manitoba Bisons on Friday.
The win pushes UFV to 1-2 in Canada West play this season, while Manitoba falls to 2-1.
As it happened:
UFV nabbed a 6-1 lead early in the first, but the Bisons battled back to level it at 12. With the score tied at 23, Manitoba would score three of the next four points to take the opener.
The Cascades started the second set on a mission, taking leads of 11-3, 17-6, and 21-9, before closing it out 25-14.
The Bisons snagged a 17-13 advantage in the third, but four straight UFV points evened it up. Manitoba found back-to-back kills from Raya Surinx to go up 21-19, but
Mo Likness found three straight kills and a block to help finish the set 25-23.
after trading shots back and forth in the fourth set, UFV scored seven of the final 10 points, including the final kill from Likness, to end the match 25-20.
Top performers:
Likness notched 12 kills and nine blocks, while hitting 52.4 percent in the match for the Cascades, while Emily Matsui posted a career-high 30 digs. Lauren Attieh had a team-high 14 kills, and Gabrielle Attieh and Natalie Crews each finished with eight.
Raya Surinx had a match-leading 17 kills in the effort, while Julia Arnold finished with 22 digs.
Quotable:
Cascades middle Mo Likness
"It was a big reset from last week. I think we went out there with full confidence because we know we can do it. Everyone was so into it, the crowd was amazing, and I'm just so proud of everyone, and so excited for the rest of the season now."
"Manitoba is a great team, and that was a tough game mentally and physically. We won today, but we have to forget about that. We can celebrate that later. We need to just come back, go to video, watch what we can do better, and hopefully do it all again tomorrow."
Up next:
The Cascades and Bisons clash once again on Saturday, with the first serve scheduled for 6:45 p.m. at the UFV athletics Centre. Tickets can be purchased online at gocascades.ca/tickets, and the game can also be seen live on canadawest.tv.
