KAMLOOPS – The Fraser Valley Cascades extended their conference-best winning streak to eight games with a 3-1 (25-19, 26-28, 26-17, 25-18) victory over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women’s volleyball team Friday night.
The Attieh sisters were a force to be reckoned with for the Cascades. Gabreille Attieh had a game-high 19 kills to go with one ace, while Lauren Attieh hit over 0.550 efficiency to finish the night with 16 kills.
The opening set started out close with the WolfPack keeping pace with the Cascades, tying the set at 10-10. The ‘Pack found their offence through Lamothe who contributed four kills in the set, but the Cascades started to pull away thanks to a Mo Likness serving streak. The Cascades – led by Gabrielle Attieh with six kills – were just too efficient in the set, hitting .55 per cent as a team en route to the 25-19 victory.
The Cascades got out to an early lead in the second set thanks to three early kills from Likness and Gabrielle Attieh, but the WolfPack responded and kept the score close trailing by just one halfway through the frame. The Cascades began to pull away with three kills in a row from the Attieh sisters, with Gabrielle putting down another and Lauren grabbing two; the sisters would combine for 11 points in the set. The gritty WolfPack were not going away without a fight however. Down 24-20, the ‘Pack clawed their way back to tie the game at 24 all thanks to a couple of Olfert and Lamothe kills to go with an ace from Olfert. Erin Mutch had a huge kill to get the WolfPack their first lead of the match at 25-24. Mutch would have the next three points for the WolfPack to earn them a 28-25, come-from-behind set victory.
Thanks to two early serving runs from Gabrielle Attieh and Alicja Hardy-Francis, the Cascades got out to an early lead and didn’t ease off, building up a seven-point lead in the early-going of the third set. The WolfPack found their offense through four Olfert kills but Lauren Attieh, who had six kills in the set, and the Cascades were able to see the frame out 25-17.
Once again, the Cascades got out to an early lead through a couple of kills from each Attieh sister, but the WolfPack went on a five-point run, with the help of strong serving from Olfert, to close the score line in the fourth. But it was a case of too little, too late for the ‘Pack as a couple Hardy-Francis aces late in the set paired with strong hitting powered the Cascades to a 25-18 victory.
TRU will get the chance for revenge tomorrow evening inside the TCC when these teams play at 4:45 p.m.