Edmonton, AB - After a slow start on Friday, the UFV Cascades battled back to the brink of victory, but it was not their day as the MacEwan Griffins held on for a five-set win (25-11, 25-21, 19-25, 22-25, 16-14) in Edmonton.
The Cascades came back from a two-set disadvantage to earn a pair of match point opportunities, but the Griffins fended them off to improve to 1-4 on the season, while UFV drops to 0-5.
How it happened:
The Cascades struggled in the opening set, as MacEwan jumped out to an early lead. UFV's team hitting percentage was -0.36 in the first set, while the Griffins pulled away to take it 25-11.
After the Griffins built a 23-15 lead in the second, three straight blocks helped the Cascades to rally and reduce the deficit to three. That would be as close as they would come however, as a decisive kill from the Griffins sealed it 25-21.
UFV Carried that built up momentum from the second set into the third as they built up a lead while hitting .538 in the frame. After a Griffins error, a kill from
Kian Bos finished off the set 25-19.
After UFV went up 7-1 in the fourth, the Griffins would battle back to pull back withing two at 15-13. Back-to-back aces from
Joel Tiedemann would help put the Cascades back in control as they scored the next five points on their way to the 25-23 set win.
UFV looked to be in control of the fifth set from the start, building a lead and holding it to 14-12. However, with two match point chances the Cascades were unable to close it out as the Griffins would tie it up and claim the victory on a Nathaniel Jarrett ace 16-14.
Notable:
UFV's
Hristo Manov led all players with 24 kills, while adding seven blocks and 13 digs.
Ethan Stoker added 13 kills, while setter
Joel Tiedemann had five aces to go with 36 assists and eight digs. Middle
Lau Kairys had a career high 10 blocks in the match.
MacEwan's Jarod Robert had a team-high 19 kills, while Jarrett added 12.
UFV hit a combined .167 in the match, while the Griffins hit .218 in the contest.
The point earned by the Cascades pushing the match to five sets is the first conference point they have earned since their victory over Trinity Western on February 6, 2025.
The Griffins earned their first victory since defeating Mount Royal on February 1, 2025.
Quotable:
UFV head coach
Nathan Bennett
"We haven't had a full squad almost all season due to injury, and we are patiently waiting for those players to be available to play. It's a next man up mentality, and hopefully we can be ready to have a higher compete level from the first whistle tomorrow."
Keep up to date
Cascades regular season 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. All Cascades regular season soccer, volleyball, and basketball games are also available to watch live and on demand at canadawest.tv.
About UFV
Located in the beautiful Fraser Valley just east of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
, the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) is a
fully accredited, public university that enrolls approximately 15,000 students per year. UFV has
campuses and locations in Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Mission, and Hope, and a growing presence in Chandigarh, India.
