By Emad Agahi (Contributor) – Email
It was a clean sweep over the weekend for the UFV Cascades. On Sunday the women won the tail end of a home back to back against the College of the Rockies Avalanche by a score of 3 sets to 0. In doing so the Cascades also notched their twentieth win of the campaign, matching their season total from a year ago. By improving their record to 20-2, the win puts UFV atop the PACWEST division once again, separating them from rivals VIU who are hot on their heels at 19-3.
The Cascades came out aggressive in the first set, carrying an early lead to a 25-13 win. Surrey, BC native Kyra Tome played a big role in the set, providing several assists to teammates, Kayla Bruce and Juliana Penner. The second set delivered much of the same one way traffic from UFV, taking the set 25-13 once again. COTR made a bid to extend the game in the third set, matching UFV point for point till the end. Trailing 21-20, resilient play by Vancouver, BC’s Jania Toljanich, who provided one dig and two crucial kills late in the set, capped the victory for the Cascades. Kayla Bruce once again showed off her lethal spiking ability, leading all players with 14 kill and contributing 5 blocks.
Head Coach Dennis Bokenfohr was in happy spirits after the game, knowing the importance the win to his side. “It is beneficial to finish in the top of the league, even though we (speaking of his team and rivals VIU) have separated ourselves from the rest of the division” Bokenfohr stated. The two teams have clinched a first round bye in the PACWEST playoffs that start February 21. They will then be presented with a semi-final opponent, which will be the winners of the 3-6 seed matchups. Bokenfohr was quick to note that anything short of a trip to the nationals would be a disappointing finish for them.
The Cascades will have an opportunity to clinch first place in the division and a team record 21 wins in a season next week in a home and home matchup with the CBC Bobcats. UFV will host the first game, 6 P.M. at the Envision Athletic Centre on Thursday February 14 and the second match will be played at CBC, 6 P.M. on Saturday February 16.
