Abbotsford, BC – UFV Cascades setter Cailin Bitter crossed the 2500 assist mark in Canada West as the team came away with the four-set victory (25-16, 17-25, 25-15, 25-21) over the UBC Okanagan Heat on Friday at the UFV Athletic Centre.

The win sees UFV improve to 4-3 on the season, while UBCO drops to 3-4.

How it happened:
UFV was dominant early, as the team notched 16 kills and had a .462 hitting percentage in the opening frame. UFV used that to build a 17-9 lead on their way to a 25-16 set win.

The Heat battled back in the second, taking a 15-9 lead on a block by Kylan Finseth and Natalie Funk, and despite push back from the Cascades, kills from Rachel Rosser and Madison Gardner ended it and tied the match at one.

The Cascades would regain control early in the third, with three aces by Bitter helping the team take a 10-3 lead. The Heat would fight back, tying the set at 14 after a UFV error. After the teams traded points, a pair of aces were included in a nine-serve run from Lauren Attieh, and a Talia Attieh kill ended it 25-15.

After the teams traded early runs in the fourth, a pair of aces from Naomi Unger and a block from Andi Calon gave UFV a 20-12 advantage. The Heat would battle back within a few points once again, but back-to-back Lauren Attieh kills closed out the match.

Notable:
Lauren Attieh led the match with 17 kills and 16 digs, while Talia Attieh had 15 kills and just one error for a hitting percentage of .538. Mandi Feist chipped in 14 kills, while Bitter added 38 assists and three aces for UFV.

Marija Josipovic had a team-high seven kills for UBCO, while Korey Jenkins and Gardner had five apiece, and Finseth had 20 assists.

With the performance, Bitter reached 100 aces in Canada West Regular season, becoming the 61^st player in conference history to reach that mark.

Bitter also surpassed the 2500 assist plateau, becoming just the 21^st player in conference history, and the first UFV player to reach the milestone.

Quotable:
UFV Setter Cailin Bitter

"The win feels good, but we're definitely not satisfied. We definitely have to clean things up tomorrow, but we're happy for a win and hungry for more."

"It feels good [to hit the milestones]. It's nice to have the team behind me to get there, and I definitely can't do it without my hitters and passers. It's my last season, so I want to make the most of it and see how far I can get. It's an honour and a privilege to play in this league, so being in that group of prestige it feels pretty nice."

Up next:
The Cascades and Heat meet up again for the rematch on Saturday at 5:45pm. The match can also be seen live on Canada West TV.

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