Brandon, MB – The UFV Cascades picked up seven aces split between Gabrielle Atttieh and Kinna Fisher, as they picked up their second three-set victory in two nights over the Brandon University Bobcats on Saturday afternoon. The U SPORTS No. five ranked Cascades swept the match 25-13, 25-15, 25-23 to improve to 9-3 this season, while the Bobcats fell to 0-12.

How it happened:
The Cascades continued where they left off on Friday, jumping out to an 8-5 lead, but the Bobcats fought back to level it at eight early on. However, the Cascades turned it on again from there, outscoring Brandon 17-5 to end the opening set 25-13 on a Gabrielle Attieh kill.

UFV remained in control in the second, jumping out to a 12-6 lead with Alicja Hardy-Francis at the service line. The Cascades kept rolling, extending the lead to 20-10 before cruising to the 25-15 set win.

Kinna Fisher found her fourth ace of the match early in the third for UFV, but the Bobcats battled back, and a Carly Thompson ace gave them a 14-10 lead. Brandon converted that into 18-13 and 20-16 advantages late in the set, but kills from Fisher and Gabrielle Attieh, and a block from Hardy-Francis leveled it again at 20. Natalie Lemoine-Sells picked up a kill and a block to make it 24-22, and UFV made no mistake closing it out 25-23.

Top Performers:
Gabrielle Attieh had a match-leading 17 kills and added three aces for the Cascades, while Kinna Fisher notched a career-high four aces to go with 34 assists and a block. Brooklyn Brodner had another strong game with seven kills two aces, and two blocks. Natalie Lemoine-Sells also had a big impact, picking up six kills, seven blocks, and seven digs in the win.

Avery Burgar had a team-high 10 kills, while Nerissa Dyer added seven for the Bobcats. Carly Thompson posted 14 assists, and Brooklyn Pratt had a team-leading seven digs in the effort.

Quotable:
UFV head coach Janelle Rozema

"I think our passing was substantially better tonight, and that was our goal. We came in to serve and pass today being really intentional, and we just got a lot more comfortable passing in this gym."

"Kinna's [Fisher] serve has been improving, and in general our whole team's serve has been improving with Craig [Marshall] really focusing in on our serving aspect, so I think everyone has been improving and Kinna is definitely included in that."

"We have some specific fine-tuning things that we know are going to require a lot of our attention, so now that we don't have the pressure of preparing for an opponent over the next few weeks we are going to be working on our game, and taking advantage of the time to rest and recover and come back fresh."

Up Next:
The Cascades now enter the mid-season break, with their next action coming on January 5 and 6, 2024, against the University of Regina Cougars in Saskatchewan. UFV will the return home for a pair of playoff rematches with the University of Winnipeg Wesmen on January 12 and 13.