WVB: Wesmen celebrate, advance in five-set thriller

WVB: Wesmen celebrate, advance in five-set thriller

2/26/2023 4:48:00 PM

David Larkins/Wesmen Athletics

WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Wesmen booked their tickets to the Canada West Final Four with a thrilling five-set win Sunday afternoon.
 
Four Winnipeg players registered double-digit kills and the Wesmen held on to beat the Fraser Valley Cascades 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 18-25, 15-8) in the decisive third match of their best-of-three conference quarter-final series at the Duckworth Centre.
 
The Wesmen now advance to a Canada West semifinal series against the Trinity Western Spartans that starts Thursday in Langley, B.C.
 
Ashleigh Laube was one of three Wesmen players to post double-doubles, leading the way with 14 kills and 16 digs. Emma Parker, Selva Planincic and Haille Bujan each had 10 kills. Parker had a team-high 19 digs, and Planincic added 17.
 
After dropping Set 4, and playing sideout volleyball for the first half of the fifth set, the Wesmen put together two key runs: First, they strung together three straight points to take an 8-5 lead and, after UFV had tied it again at 8, closed the match with seven straight points with reserve middle blocker Christine Kolbuck on the service line.
 
“I think the experience we had, the fifth-year kids on the floor showed in crucial situations,” Wesmen head coach Phil Hudson said. “That’s what experience does, it allows you to deal with the pressure and situations. Our fifth-years came through. Ashleigh and Emma played amazing and Haille was fantastic, too.”
 
Gabrielle and Lauren Attieh combined for 140 swings for the Cascades, with Gabrielle Attieh notching match-highs of 22 kills and 20 digs. Lauren Attieh added 16 and 15, and Natalie Lemoine-Sell had 13 and 15.
 
The Cascades, however, once again lamented their inconsistency on the service line. In a Game 1 loss on Friday, they made 14 service errors and Sunday they committed 18.
 
“It kinda goes back to Night One and what we’ve been battling with all weekend long was our serve game,” UFV head coach Janelle Rozema said. “We worked so hard to be physical in every other aspect of our (game), and then when we’re making that many errors from the service line, it’s pretty tough.”
 
Fraser Valley held the Wesmen to just .120 attacking, their lowest percentage in a win this season. UFV hit .126