Volleyball takes the spotlight in this final recap of the fall semester, and the UFV teams faced their final exam of the semester in the form of TWU men’s and women’s teams in their home court at the Langley Events Centre. Both TWU teams exerted their dominance early in each of their games this weekend, but our UFV teams played strong second halves in each of their matches for near victories. With both teams having strong latter halves, they have a positive foundation for winter training and a potentially stronger new year.
Dec. 2’s evening of festivities opened with the women’s game. TWU (5-1) took an early lead in the opening set that never wavered. TWU closed the first set 25-11.
UFV nearly matched TWU’s performance in the second and third sets. Sadie Wilson led a near comeback charge in the second set, scoring a pair of aces that kept the score within five at the end of the game. The teams remained tight through the final set, with UFV keeping TWU to a two-point game until TWU’s Avery Heppell scored six straight points to close the set 25-17 with a 0-3 match final.
Later in the night, our men’s team (0-7) fended off the no. 2 overall ranked TWU (7-0) volleyball team for four sets before finally suffering another defeat in a 1-3 final.
The first three sets were tight. UFV took the lead in both the second and third sets. They lost out in the former after TWU went on a 4 kill streak at the end, but UFV held onto their early lead and won the third set 25-22. TWU had an explosive start in the fourth and final set. They led with 16-8 kills and never let UFV close the distance, with the final score of the set 25-16, resulting in a 3-1 TWU victory.
Friday, Dec. 3, the teams held their rematches. The TWU women took control of their matches, winning all three sets of the match with a commanding force. TWU pushed UFV to their limits, closing the second set 25-8. UFV held on and fought through the third, keeping pace until TWU went on a 9 kill run to close the set at 25-18 and end the match 3-0.
The UFV men went the distance and played five sets against the undefeated TWU team, barely managing to lose out on their first win of the season. Nimo Benne led UFV with 18 kills throughout the night, blasting off five in a dominant UFV first set win. TWU pushed back, taking the second set, and UFV answered right back again, winning the third set but losing the fourth. UFV led the fifth set 10-8 before TWU showed us why they are such a powerful team, going on a 7 kill run to close the extra set 15-12 and delivering a heartwrenching 3-2 loss to UFV.
Our volleyball teams played four tough matches against one of the best teams in the Canada West standings. The strong latter halves of the matches show what our teams will be working hard for volleyball fans when they come back rested and ready for 2022.
Volleyball returns to us on Jan. 14 and 15 as our men and women return home to play in the UFV Athletic Centre. The men kick off the volleyball new year at 6:00 p.m and 3:00 p.m. respectively, and the women start at 8:00 p.m and 5:00 p.m. respectively. UFV basketball arrives a week earlier. Our women and men continue their regular-season game against UBCO on Jan. 8 and 9 in Kelowna. Tip-off at 5:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. respectively for the women’s game, followed by the men at 7:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. respectively.
Image: Gibi Saini / UFV Athletics
Teryn Midzain is an English Major with ambitious goals to write movies and a full-time nerd, whose personality and eccentrics run on high-octane like the cars he loves. More importantly, Teryn loves sports [Formula One], and doesn’t care who knows. When not creating and running deadly schemes in his D&D sessions, Teryn tries to reach the core of what makes the romantic and dramatic World of Sports, the characters and people that make the events so spectacular.