A busy weekend for the University of the Fraser Valley athletic department was highlighted by impressive victories by the wrestling and basketball teams.
Wrestlers win gold at Golden Bear Open
The fledgling Cascades wrestling program notched a major milestone on Saturday, as the men’s team finished atop the aggregate standings at the Golden Bear Open hosted by the University of Alberta in Edmonton. It’s the first-ever tournament title for UFV, which is in its first season of Canada West competition.
The Cascades men won in decisive fashion, combining for 49 points to outdistance the host University of Alberta Golden Bears (32 points), Winnipeg Wesmen (31), Calgary Dinos (29), Regina Cougars (27) and Saskatchewan Huskies (26). UFV saw three individuals climb to the top step of the podium – Aso Palani (61 kg), Jasmit Phulka (82 kg) and Manheet Kalhon (120 kg).
Men’s hoopsters stretch win streak to 24
The Cascades men’s basketball team swept the Mount Royal Cougars at home to extend their Canada West regular season win streak to 24 games.
UFV won 84-69 on Friday behind 22 points and eight rebounds from Kevon Parchment, and completed the sweep on Saturday by a score of 89-72 thanks to huge offensive performances by Dominique Brooks (30 points) and Nate Brown (28 points).
The Cascades improve to 10-0 in conference play this season, and hold a comfortable four-game lead in the Explorers Division.
Women’s basketball team back on track
The Cascades women’s hoopsters snapped a four-game conference losing streak in emphatic fashion, blowing out Mount Royal 85-58 on Friday and 81-67 on Saturday.
Sarah Wierks came up large for UFV both nights, notching 21 points and 17 rebounds in the opener and 23 points and 15 boards in the rematch. She also moved up from sixth to third on the all-time Canada West rebounding list, having collected 881 boards in her illustrious five-year career.
Other standouts on the weekend included Nataliia Gavryliuk (20 points, five first-half three-pointers on Friday) and Celeste Dyck (17 points and five steals on Saturday).
The Cascades improved to 6-4, good for third place in the Explorers Division.
Sweet sweep for women’s volleyballers
The UFV women’s volleyball team turned in a dominant performance on the road, beating the Douglas Royals in three straight sets on both Friday and Saturday.
The Cascades, ranked No. 9 in the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) national poll, got solid team-wide efforts both nights, highlighted by spectacular defence and tough serving.
UFV improved to 9-5 in PacWest play, good for third place in the conference.
Royals fend off UFV men’s volleyball squad
The Cascade men’s volleyballers faced a tough foe in the CCAA No. 2-ranked Douglas Royals, but pushed the Royals to the limit on Friday before falling in five thrilling sets. Joel Kleingeltink (13 kills) and Josh Togeretz (11 kills) paced the UFV offence.
Saturday’s rematch wasn’t as close, as Douglas dispatched the CCAA No. 15-ranked Cascades in three straight sets. UFV sits fourth in the PacWest with a 6-8 record.
For more information, contact Dan Kinvig at dan.kinvig@ufv.ca
01/16/2015