Kamloops, BC – UFV Cascades setter Cailin Bitter got her team off to a dream start, as they battled to a five-set victory (25-14, 25-23, 17-25, 14-25, 15-13) on Friday over the U SPORTS No. 4 ranked TRU WolfPack.

The win pushes UFV to 8-5 on the season, while TRU falls to 11-4 in Canada West.

How it happened:
The Cascades opened the match on a 9-0 run, with Cailin Bitter putting up an astounding five aces in the early going. The WolfPack would get their footing as the set progressed, but UFV would hold on to take the opener by that nine-point margin.

A Libby Meldum ace put TRU up 23-21 in the second set, but after an error a pair of blocks and a kill from Mandi Feist gave UFV the final points needed to take the set 25-23.

TRU would build a 17-20 lead in the third, before starting a five-point run with a Rida Erlalelitepe kill and closing it out with a Libby Meldrum ace to take the set.

The momentum would continue in the fourth. With the score 13-11 for the WolfPack, Back-to-back Hail Ward kills would kick off a 12-3 stretch to close out the frame and force a fifth set. 

UFV would find their form again at the start of the fifth. Naomi Unger would find a kill to make it 4-0, before adding a kill and an ace to stretch the lead to 9-2 early in the decider. Like they did all night TRU battled back again to score eight of the next ten points to come within striking distance, but after a Lauren Attieh kill set up match point Talia Attieh would close out the match 15-13 with a kill of her own.

Notable:
UFV setter Cailin Bitter had the UFV offence flying with 44 assists to go with five aces, 15 digs, and three blocks. Talia Attieh had a match-high 21 kills and a .389 hitting percentage, while Laren Attieh added 18.

Hail Ward and Rida Erlalelitipe had 16 kills apiece for TRU.

UFV has now won all 11 regular season encounters between these two teams since the Cascades' volleyball teams joined Canada West.

Quotable:
UFV head coach Janelle Rozema

"We felt very prepared to compete this weekend so that is why we were able to start so strong. We didn't need something to help get us going. We were already moving. We knew TRU wasn't going to make the whole game easy and we were prepared for their push back. That helped us stay strong and focused in order to execute and close out the match."

"Cailin [Bitter] ran an incredible offense. She made use of every ball our passers put in the air, and she was able to find all her hitters at key times."

Up Next:
The two teams will meet up once again on Saturday in Kamloops, with the first serve set for 3pm at the UFV Athletic Centre.

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