By Nathan Hutton (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: February 19, 2014
The reigning CCAA champs are about to begin the quest to defend their national title.
Surprisingly, they won’t do it as a top seed. Sliding from their once-perfect record down the stretch, their final regular season matches against the Columbia Bible College Bearcats were indicative of some weaknesses the team will need to shore up for the postseason.
The two games did not mean anything when it came to standings, but there was the significance of senior night.
Both Jenna Evans and Simone Hansen were key contributors on last year’s national championship winning team and were honoured in their final regular season appearances.
In game one, the Bearcats came out strong, as they wanted to prove they can hang with the powerhouse Cascades. They won the first two sets in spectacular fashion, both going into extra points with the Bearcats prevailing both times 27-25. The early 2-0 deficit forced the Cascades to turn up the intensity.
The Cascades came out strong in the third and fourth sets, holding the Bearcats to only 27 total points (17 and 10 respectively), and the Cascades prevailed in the final set 15-8.
But the second game of the weekend saw the Cascades lose to the Bearcats in four sets.
The Cascades will begin their playoff run on Thursday in the PACWEST championship where they will be the second seed behind the VIU Mariners. The PACWEST championship are being hosted by Capilano University and will run from February 20 to 22.
