By Nathan Hutton (The Cascade) – Email
Print Edition: November 5, 2014
Ever since winning the national title two years ago, Coach Bokenfohr and the women’s volleyball team have struggled to win against one team exclusively — the Victoria Island University Mariners. It was no different this weekend.
The Mariners have struggled early this season and were 1-3 prior to their Halloween matchup against the Cascades. The Cascades, on the other hand, were a perfect 4-0, and consistently getting better. It was the perfect combination for a surprise weekend result.
Although the stage was set for an upset, the Cascades played spoiler and staved off the competition in the first game of the weekend, and easily controlled the Mariners, who are definitely not the same team that won the PacWest a season before.
The Cascades took the first game in three sets (25-14, 25-23, 25-17), defensively holding the Mariners to 14 points in one of the three sets — that is a season low so far for the Cascades in a single set. The defensive strength was attributed to Katie Peacock and Emily Carroll, who both registered six kills.
Coach Bokenfohr explained after the game that the win was a unique show of collective power and unity for the Cascades.
“The biggest compliment I can give the girls is, it was our most complete team win. Everyone stepped up, everyone was ready, [and] everyone was keyed-in. That’s a rare treat,” Bokenfohr told Cascades Media.
The second game of the weekend for the Cascades was the difficult of the two. They really struggled offensively, scoring over 20 points in only one of four sets. They suffered their first loss of the season (14-25, 26-24, 17-25, 15-25). The split result for the women is further evidence that although they are easily one of the best teams in the PacWest, they really struggle against the Mariners.
The men, on the other hand, went to VIU with a record of 3-1, their best start in over five years. They played a VIU team who they shared a 1-3 record with.
The Cascades saw an impressive effort in the Halloween night game by Kurtis Stromdahl, who injured his knee just two weeks ago. He came out and registered 16 kills and 12 digs, pairing nice with his pair of aces. Stromdahl’s performance unfortunately wasn’t enough for the Cascades, who lost the game 3-2 (14-25, 23-25, 25-15, 25-16, 14-16). It was their first five-set game of the year.
The Cascades’ Saturday matinee was the game they were hoping to take from the Mariners, but failed to do so. They were unable to capitalize on the late momentum from the night before, and dropped the game in three straight sets (19-25, 25-27, 21-25) — their first loss in three sets this year.
Kurtis Stromdahl was the Cascades volleyball player of the week for his killer individual performance in the first game of the weekend.
The men are now 3-3 in regular season play and the women are 5-1. Both teams play the Capilano University Blues next weekend at the Envision Athletic Centre. The Capilano women are 3-1, and the men are 0-4.
