By Dessa Bayrock (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: October 17, 2012
The UFV women’s volleyball team defeated the Columbia Bible College Bearcats in the first game of the season this past weekend, beating the former provincial contenders 3-1.
The game started off quick with some lively volleying and the Bearcats taking the initial lead. Cascades quickly tied it up with a series of neat spikes, and the two teams stayed neck and neck, helped by some sick serves from UFV’s Kiera Noot and Kayla Bruce’s miraculous ability to be in exactly the right place at the right time.
Players on both teams were good-natured, loud and enthusiastic, fearlessly throwing themselves in front of the ball and trusting teammates to catch it on the rebound. CBC was clockwork, setting their shots up perfectly to neatly tuck the ball over the net.
After a close battle, CBC took the first set 25-19 and kept their lead into the second. UFV trailed by a hair and finally pulled ahead, thanks to Jenna Evans’ calculated tip to sneak points by the opposing team. UFV took the set 25-22 after some hard rallies and out-of-bound mistakes by CBC.
UFV also took the third set 25-22, with some seriously spectacular spikes from Janina Toljanich, who landed several jabbing shots that CBC couldn’t defend. The Bearcats couldn’t keep it together, and the Cascades controlled the last set, landing the death blow at 25-16.
“We had a bit of nerves coming out in the first set, but we’re still learning how to play with each other,” said Janina Toljanich, a five-foot-eight power from Vancouver.
“There’s a few new faces on our team, and by the end of the game it got really exciting to see where we’re going to go and how much better we’re going to get,” Toljanich said. “It’s going to be a good season for sure … it’s only going to get better.”
“We’re working on a faster pace, and it seemed that it went pretty well tonight,” explained Jenna Evans, a five-foot-seven left-side from Abbotsford. “We’re working really hard in practice so we’re hoping to be the best that we can be … it’s just nice that we can all support each other on the court and if we make a bad play, we’ll get it next time.”
On Saturday the Cascades repeated their victorious ways with a 3-2 victory over the Bearcats at CBC, stealing the fifth set 17-15.
The women’s volleyball team will tackle Camosun College next, on Oct 19 at 6 p.m. at the Envision Athletic Centre on Abbotsford campus.
