By Nathan Hutton (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: October 22, 2014
The Cascades volleyball teams faced off against their cross-town rivals this past weekend. The Columbia Bible College Bearcats were good competition for the opening games of the regular season.
The women’s team is expected to rebound this season after getting knocked out of the first round of the playoffs last year. The team will likely feature a lot of new faces contributing, as they lost a few key veterans at the end of last season.
The Bearcats were not one of the teams that the Cascades women had trouble with last year, and the trend continued into this season as they were able to dispatch them in back-to-back games. Their Friday night home opener was probably a lot more hotly contested than coach Dennis Bokenfohr probably hoped for; however, the Cascades were able to recover early and rebound after an up-and-down game. They buried the Bearcats in five sets.
“We were wondering what team would show up. We kind of had ups and downs all game long, so it was just fun to watch them go out there and see who wanted to show up and play,” said Coach Bokenfohr.
He complimented one of the new Cascades, Michelle Zygmunt, saying, “Michelle had a heck of a serving run to start the set, and we kind of coasted from there.”
The second game of the weekend was where we were able to see the real Cascades team as they dispatched their rivals in three straight sets.
“The finish was there in all three sets, and that’s a neat trait to see develop. You don’t know what you’ve got until they get the opportunity. Everyone got on the court, and we had a balanced attack,” Coach Bokenfohr remarked on the win.
For the men’s volleyball team, the biggest news of the weekend came on Friday night as they rewarded first-time head coach Kyle Donen with his first win as coach.
“We came out with energy, and I think the crowd really helped us from the get-go. We kind of let it get away from us a little bit in that second set, but we found a way to rebound when we needed to. The guys really battled tonight, and kudos to them,” remarked Donen post-game.
The Cascades were able to knock off the Bearcats during the first game of the weekend in four sets, but dealt with loss in the same four sets the next night. The Cascades lost third-year Kurtis Stromdahl early in the second set to an undisclosed knee injury.
“At the time, he was our most stable passer, and that kind of changed the complexion of the game,” Coach Donen said regarding the loss of Stromdahl.
The women’s volleyball team is starting the season in the best possible way. They are 2-0 going into next weekend’s games, and the men are 1-1. Both teams play the College of the Rockies Avalanche next weekend.
With files from Dan Kinvig.
