Abbotsford, BC  – Nimo Benne became the 31^st player in Canada West men's volleyball to notch 1000 career kills on Friday, as the UFV Cascades took down the Calgary Dinos in four sets (17-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-18).   

The win pushes the Cascades to 5-8 on the season, while the Dinos drop to 5-8.

How it happened:
Three straight kills from Cole Czepuryk in the opening set gave Calgary an 18-11 lead, and they seemed to cruise to the opening set win. 

The Cascades responded immediately in the second however, as Benne scored an ace and found three of the Cascades first four kills of the second frame to put UFV up 6-3. Kills from Benne and Jonas Van Huizen allowed them to extend the lead to 17-10, and the Cascades tied it up at one set apiece.

The teams traded shots throughout the third, with no team able to gain more than a two-point lead, but with the score tied up at 22, the Cascades struck again. After a Calgary error, UFV scored kills from Benne and Ryan Hampe to close it out 25-23.

Calgary jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the fourth, but UFV battled back, and three straight kills from Van Huizen made it 13-12 for the Cascades. With the score 20-18 late in the set, the Cascades would score the final five points of the match, including two more Benne aces to finish off the match 25-18.

Notable:
Benne hit .467 on the night, and his 18 kills brings him to 1000 in his Canada West career. He also added four blocks and five digs in the effort. 

Van Huizen added 17 kills while hitting .300, and Roan McCarthy finished with nine and a .368 hitting percentage.

Quotable:
UFV outside hitter Nimo Benne

"We wanted to build off MacEwan last week and start the semester off with a better positive energy, and it's showing. Everyone is participating better. We're hitting harder, and playing harder defence for each other. We're celebrating each other, and it's just more fun to play out there."

"1000 was definitely a goal when I came here. All the great players that I know of have had 1000 or something like that, and of course I wanted to win on the night as well."

"I was a little nervous at the start with everyone there to support you for that moment, but as soon as we start playing and get the first couple kills then it was just feeling good, and having that support is amazing. You hear it and just play better from it. It was great having them here."

UFV head coach Nathan Bennett

"[Benne] has been an excellent player, an excellent teammate, during his career, and he's been an excellent Cascade and representative of UFV. We'll celebrate him tonight, but as he knows and the team knows this is a team game and we still have a mission to accomplish."

Up next:
The Cascades and Dinos will play the rematch on Saturday at 3pm at the UFV Athletic Centre. 

Cascades home games offer free admission for UFV students with their student card. You can keep up with all the action at gocascades.ca, or by following the UFV Cascades on social media at @ufvcascades