Saskatoon, SK – Lauren Attieh found her 1,000^th career kill on Saturday afternoon in Saskatoon, as the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades battled their way to a five-set victory (21-25, 25-23, 19-25, 25-21, 19-17) over the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.

The win sees UFV improve to 9-7 on the season, while Saskatchewan drops to 10-8, as both teams jostle for the sixth spot in Canada West and the play-in round bye.

How it happened:
A pair of early runs helped Saskatchewan grab a 13-7 lead in the early part of the openings set. A powerful kill and an ace from Talia Attieh pulled UFV back within four points, but the Huskies would hold on to take the set 25-21.

Kills from Andi Calon and Lauren Attieh helped UFV jump out to a 10-6 lead, but a 6-0 run from Saskatchewan flipped the momentum. Back-to-back kills from Mandi Feist pushed UFV to level the score at 17. Two late aces from Naomi Unger allowed the Cascades to even the match with the 25-23 set win. 

The teams traded runs throughout the third, but three kills from Taryn Hannah late in the set helped the hosts pull away to finish it off 25-19.

The Cascades started off strong in the fourth set, quickly building an 8-3 lead and forcing a timeout from the Huskies after a pair of big kills and a block from Talia Attieh. Saskatchewan would claw back to cut into the lead, but a pair of back-to-back Mandi Feist kills would make it 15-10 and the Cascades would hold that advantage to force a fifth set.

A quick start from the Huskies in the deciding set was compounded by a pair of out of rotation calls against UFV, as Saskatchewan took a commanding 10-3 lead. The Cascades would battle back, with Talia Attieh scoring three aces on a run, and the teams would find themselves level at 15. A controversial kill from Taryn Hannah that appeared to cross from outside the antennae would count to give the Huskies a match point. However, back-to-back blocks from Unger helped UFV fight it off, and eventually earn a match point of their own after a Lauren Attieh kill. A second disputed call would end the match, as Keely Anderson appeared to catch a piece of the UFV block but her hit was deemed to have sailed long to give the Cascades the 19-17 victory.

Notable:
Cascades outside hitter Laurent Attieh scored her 1,000^th career Canada West kill during Saturday's fourth set. That is the most in program history, with all 1,000 coming as a member of the Cascades.

Lauren Attieh led UFV with 17 kills in the match, while Mandi Feist added 13 kills and 18 digs. Naomi Unger chipped in nine kills, four aces, and seven blocks, and Talia Attieh had eight kills and four aces. Setter Cailin Bitter posted 49 assists in the match. 

Saskatchewan's Taryn Hannah had a match-high 26 kills, while Jessica Bergstrom chipped in eight kills for the hosts. 

Quotable:
UFV head coach Janelle Rozema

"The whole team was counting along all game. We didn't say anything to Lauren [Attieh], but like the extended bench knew about it and they were counting along to the 1000th kill, so that was pretty cool. You could just tell that Lauren was on a mission tonight to contribute as much as she could, to try and get the win. She's a Terminator. She knows how to finish rallies. A thousand kills don't happen overnight, but they happen because she knows how to terminate the ball and she showed that again tonight."

"We are talking about developing resiliency and resiliency doesn't come unless you are in tough situations. We're trying not to shy away from tough situations, like being down in any set, let alone a fifth set."

Up Next:
The Cascades will now return home for a pair of matches against the UBC Thunderbirds next Friday and Saturday, with the first serve set for 6pm and 4pm respectively.

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