Abbotsford, BC – The UFV Cascades dropped a three-set decision to the Winnipeg Wesmen on Saturday night at the UFV Athletic Centre. 

The Wesmen improve their season record to 2-0 with the 25-17, 25-23, 25-18 win, while the Cascades fall to 0-4 on the year.

How it happened:
After the teams traded early runs in the opening set, a six-point run punctuated by a pair of aces from Jaxon Rose gave the Wesmen a 17-11 lead on their way to take the frame.

After a back-and-forth start to the second set, Winnipeg outscored UFV 8-2 in the middle portion to go up 19-13. A pair of Roan McCarthy kills helped the Cascades pull back within one, but the Wesmen held on to squeak out the set with a kill from Jackson Abuisi closing it out 25-23.

The Wesmen once again built a lead in the third, going up 18-13 after an Abuisi ace. Four errors down the stretch for UFV gave Winnipeg a chance at match point, and a kill from Rose finished it off 25-18.

Notable:
McCarthy led the Cascades on Saturday with nine kills and two aces, while Comrie Engbers found seven kills while hitting .417 in the match. Rookie libero Yahia Elsayed finished the game with a team-high eight digs.

Rose finished with 12 kills for Winnipeg, while Paxton Koop had nine to go with a .900 hitting percentage.

Quotable:
UFV outside hitter Comrie Engbers

"We show some flashes of being great which is really encouraging, but it is definitely frustrating when we go through these moments and blow a set on a single run. All we have to do is figure out how to eliminate those, and hit a little more efficiently and I think we'll be on the right track."

"We have a pretty inexperienced team, so hopefully the learning curve is high and we can pick it up fast, because we have to get going here."

UFV head coach Nathan Bennett

"We are just trying to improve week to week. I think we are getting closer. I think the one thing we can take is knowing when we have opportunity, and we're close, how we can close out those sets. I think we were in a couple sets this weekend, but I would like to see us find a way to close out those important moments in matches."

"I thought Hudson [Brandsma] did really well today. He came in and showed the intensity that we're looking for. And Roan [McCarthy] has been a rock. He's still trying to find his way as a leader on this team, and I think he'll get there, but there is really great flashes that I've seen from Roan."

Up next:
The Cascades now head into a bye week before traveling to face the University of Alberta on November 7 and 8 in Edmonton. 

To keep up with all the action follow the Cascades on social media at @ufvcascades, and visit the UFV Athletics website at gocascades.ca.