T-Birds outlast Cascades in Canada West playoff round-robin

EDMONTON – The University of the Fraser Valley men’s volleyball team made the UBC Thunderbirds sweat, extending the first three sets of Friday’s Canada West playoff clash to extra points, but the T-Birds ultimately fended off the Cascades’ upset bid and prevailed in four.

The Cascades had their chances in the first two sets, but UBC’s execution was sharper in the late stages of both, and they took them by scores of 27-25 and 26-24.
The T-Birds were poised to end it in three, leading 24-22 in the third, but UFV fended off a trio of match points and won it 27-25 to extend the match.

The Cascades’ bandwagon ran out of gas in the fourth, as UBC pulled away to close it out in decisive fashion, 25-18.

The Thunderbirds improved to 1-1 in Pool B playoff action hosted by the Alberta Golden Bears at the Saville Community Sports Centre. They wrap up the round robin on Saturday vs. the Golden Bears (8 p.m. MT, 7 p.m. PT), while the Cascades (0-2) face the Saskatchewan Huskies (3 p.m. MT, 2 p.m. PT). Saskatchewan and Alberta are both 1-0 heading into their Friday evening clash at the Saville Centre.

Abbotsford product Cole Brandsma had a huge game against his hometown team, racking up a game-high 26 kills and hitting .467 for the T-Birds. Michael Dowhaniuk added 14 kills, Zarley Zalusky chipped in with nine kills on 13 swings, and setter Mason Greves posted 50 assists. 

The Cascades got big games from a trio of attackers. Right side Nimo Benne registered a team-high 16 kills and hit .448, and middle Noah Bouius had 13 kills on 18 swings with no errors for a scorching .722 hitting percentage. Caleb Kastelein added 12 kills for UFV, and setter Jonas Van Huizen dished out 44 assists. 

UBC was the more efficient team offensively, hitting .417 to the Cascades’ .268, but UFV was the more dangerous team from the service line, with a 10-7 edge in aces.