Cascades earn first-ever Canada West playoff win, beating Bobcats in four

The Cascades prevailed 25-23, 13-25, 28-26, 25-15 before an enthusiastic crowd at the UFV Athletic Centre, improving to 1-1 in Pool A play while leaving Brandon with a matching 1-1 mark.
UFV wraps up the round-robin event on Saturday vs. the 0-2 Calgary Dinos (4 p.m., UFV Athletic Centre), and can all but assure themselves of a spot in the second round of the CW playoffs with a win.
Brandon wraps things up against the Trinity Western Spartans (2-0) at 6 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.

“It confirms what we’ve been trying to believe in all along,” Cascades head coach Janelle Rozema said afterward, reflecting on the landmark result. “We’re here to win. We’re not just here to be happy to be a part of the playoffs. We have a goal to be a winning program, a championship program, and every time we figure out how to win in a season like this, we’re learning.

“I think that’s just going to go to the future of this program, and beyond.”

The Cascades got off to a strong start, opening an 11-5 lead in the first set behind a four-point Amanda Matsui service run, capped by back-to-back aces. The Bobcats were able to close to within 12-11, with

Taryn Hannah picking up a trio of key kills, and they would go on to build a 22-20 edge. UFV would score four points in a row, though, siding out via a Grace Warkentin kill and then reeling off three points with

Liz Baird at the service line. Warkentin would close it out 25-23 with a kill.

The second set was all Brandon – they opened leads of 5-1 and 7-2 early, and served tough throughout the set to blitz the Cascades 25-13.

The visitors appeared poised to take the third set, leading 24-22, but the Cascades staved off two set points as Kristen McBride notched a kill and Amanda Matsui followed with a service ace. Later on, tied 26-26, rookie middle Mo Likness hammered an emphatic kill to give set point to UFV, and McBride closed it out with a service ace.

The Cascades left no doubt in the fourth set, building leads of 5-1 and 14-7, and cruising from there.

“We were up in the third and it looked like things were going our way, and the Cascades just found a way to put some pressure on with their serve,” Bobcats head coach Lee Carter analyzed. “We kind of struggled with it and lost confidence in it, and you saw that in the fourth – our serve-pass game became questioning. It was just good playing on the Cascades’ part. They played defence when they needed to play defence, won some long rallies.”

Matsui racked up a game-high 16 kills for the Cascades, including one that set off a celebration on match point. Warkentin had a big night, contributing 14 kills and hitting .273, and Likness had nine kills on 14 swings with no errors for a .643 hitting mark. Cailin Bitter posted 28 assists, and libero Emily Matsui excelled on her way to 24 digs.

Ravyn Wiebe led the way for the Bobcats with 14 kills, Keely Anderson had 11 kills, and setter Jamie Bain posted 32 assists.