Lauren Attieh put up a match-high 28 kills, but the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades suffered their first defeat of the season in a 3-2 decision to the University of Winnipeg Wesmen on Friday in Abbotsford. 

The Cascades fell 25-23, 22-25, 13-25, 25-15, 14-16, to move to 4-1 on the season, while the Wesmen improve to 1-2. 

How it happened:
After a back-and-forth opening set, the Cascades found a pair of kills from Lauren Attieh, and an ace from Sydney Wright to take a 22-20 lead late in the first. Kills from Talia Attieh and Mandi Feist closed it out as UFV took it 25-23.

The Cascades jumped out to a five-point lead in the second, but the Wesmen responded strong with as Grace Vallis finding four of her nine kills through two sets. L. Attieh kept pace for UFV, picking up nine kills in the second frame to keep it close, but a late charge from Winnipeg closed it out 25-22.

The Wesmen carried that momentum into the third, jumping out to an early lead, before handily finishing off the frame 25-13.

The Cascades had a strong start to the fourth set with a couple of service aces from Talia Attieh pushing UFV ahead 11-4. Building off that start, UFV confidently secured the set 25-15 after a few attack errors from the Wesman.
 
The two teams went back and forth through most of the final set. Vallis provided the Wesmen a spark with 4 kills, as the visitors grabbed a 13-11 lead.  However, the Cascades found a kill from Lauren Attieh, and two more from Talia Attieh to make it 14-13 and set up match point. The Wesmen managed to fend it off with a Brooke Duncalfe kill, and a Planicic kill was followed up by a UFV attack error to give Winnipeg the victory. 

Notable:
UFV's Lauren Attieh finished the match with 28 kills to tie her career best, and lead all players in the match. 

UFV struggled in attacking efficiency on the night, hitting just .180 compared to .237 for Winnipeg. 

Quotable:
UFV head coach Janelle Rozema

"We just have to clean up a few of our skills, and there are a few points that I think we wish we could have back. I think those are kind of living in our heads right now so it will be good to get a second chance at those points tomorrow. It was good for us to try to find performance when things weren't ideal"

"Lauren [Attieh] is relentless. She learned from the high-level volleyball that she got the privilege to be around this summer, and she's taking that and bringing it back here. She's a great leader, and there is a reason you build a program around a player like that. We have some young players on the floor that are expected to do great things right now, and for them to be able to look over and check in with their captain and see that's how it's done, I think she is influencing a bigger picture than just the result of tonight."

Up next:
The Cascades and the Wesmen get reacquainted on Saturday afternoon, with the first serve set for 3pm at the UFV Athletic Centre.