The UFV volleyball teams had a weekend of mixed results on their first road trip of the season.
Facing the Vancouver Island University Mariners in Nanaimo, the Cascades women opened with a straight-sets victory (25-14, 25-23, 25-17) on Friday to run their record to 5-0. Katie Peacock and Emily Carroll tied for team-high honours with six kills apiece.
The next night, though, the Mariners turned in a performance befitting their status as the reigning PacWest conference champs, handing UFV its first loss (25-14, 24-26, 25-17, 25-15).
“The effort and desire was there, but the execution was not,” UFV head coach Dennis Bokenfohr analyzed. “In volleyball, if you can’t pass and don’t serve very efficiently, it’s pretty hard to score points. It was just one of those games where it seemed like anything that could go wrong did go wrong.”
The Cascade men, meanwhile, found themselves on the wrong end of a weekend sweep.
Friday’s opener was a game of wild momentum swings, with the Mariners ultimately eking out the victory in five sets (25-14, 25-23, 15-25, 16-25, 16-14). Kurtis Stromdahl (16 kills, 12 digs, two aces) and Joel Kleingeltink (11 kills, 15 digs, three blocks) led the way for UFV with well-rounded performances, while middles Robert Koenig and Connor Nickel were instrumental in the team’s mid-game comeback, notching six kills apiece and combining for nine blocks.
Saturday’s rematch wasn’t as close, as VIU prevailed in three straight (25-19, 27-25, 25-21). Kleingeltink had 12 kills, while Stromdahl and Adam Chaplin notched 10 apiece.
“Again, we didn’t get off to a good start and it put us in a tough spot,” Cascades coach Kyle Donen said. “Our passing wasn’t the best, but we found our way and we battled. At certain points in the match, we just couldn’t get some breaks. Sometimes that’s just how it goes on the road. We couldn’t sustain momentum.”
The Cascades volleyball teams wrap up their first-semester schedule with six straight home games, beginning this Friday and Saturday vs. the Capilano Blues at the Envision Athletic Centre (women 6 pm, men 8 pm both nights).
For more information, contact Dan Kinvig at dan.kinvig@ufv.ca
11/07/2014