Out of town results meant that the UFV Cascades clinched a spot in the Canada West playoffs on Saturday before they had even stepped on the court. With Thompson Rivers University falling 3-1 to Brandon University, the Cascades clinched that 10^th and final spot. 

Once the match between the Cascades and UBC Thunderbirds finally got underway, both teams had a chance to rest some key starters and get some valuable playing time for a few younger players. In the end, it was the Thunderbirds taking it 3-0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-20) to improve to 15-5 on the year, while the Cascades finish the season at 7-13. 

How it happened:
The first set had the largest score differential of the night, as UBC went on a massive run in the back half of the action. Hudson Brandsma and Comrie Engbers landed early kills for the visitors to get them off to a solid start, but Alex Emery landed a kill and block in quick succession to put the home team in front.

Up 12-10, UBC then scored ten straight points to secure the set.

A block from Steven Yarad and Roan McCarthy put the Casacdes up by two in the second, but the Thunderbirds soon took the lead right back with an ace from Reeve Gingera. UBC would not give up that lead again closing out the frame.
The Cascades capitalized on a couple UBC errors to start the third up 4-2, but some errors of their own gave the lead back to the T-Birds a little later on in the set. A quick UBC burst capped by a block put them up 20-16, and from there they were able to close it out. 

Notable:
Roan McCarthy had six kills, three digs and a pair of blocks for the visitors. Hudson Brandsma had four kills and five digs, while Braden White had 13 assists and an ace. Steven Yarad made the most his first career start with four kills, two digs and two blocks.

With the result, the Cascades will now travel to Alberta for a best-of-three play-in series with the seventh seeded University of Calgary Dinos next week. The Cascades and Dinos met twice earlier this season, with the Cascades coming out victorious in both matches. 

Games one and two of the series are set for 6pm MST on Thursday, 6pm MST on Friday. Game three will go on Saturday if necessary. Every game will be available live and on demand at canadawest.tv.

Quotable:
"I think this shows that we are a team to contend with this season, and we're ready for the challenge ahead," UFV head coach Nathan Bennett noted on the Cascades clinching a spot in the post season. 

"A lot of guys got an opportunity to play tonight which was great. Those guys have been there for us all season long and have been working their tails off. They got that opportunity tonight which was well deserved. Unfortunately it wasn't the result we were looking for, but I did think there were a lot of good things to build off for that group in the coming years," Bennett noted on the chance to get some other players on the court.