Cascades’ upset bid falls short vs top-ranked Camosun

For the second straight day, the University of the Fraser Valley women’s volleyball squad showed they can compete with the top team in the PACWEST, only to be turned aside by the Camosun Chargers.

Coming off a hard-fought five-set loss in Victoria on Friday evening, the Cascades took a set from the CCAA No. 3-ranked Chargers in Saturday afternoon’s rematch, but the hosts prevailed in four (25-18, 22-25, 25-18, 25-18).

PACWEST frontrunner Camosun improved to 7-1 on the season, while the fifth-place Cascades fell to 2-6.

“I’m happy with the level of volleyball we played as a whole on the weekend,” UFV head coach Mike Gilray said. “But today was more inconsistent. We’re playing against an extremely good team here in Camosun, and I thought we did a really good job of holding Michelle (Zygmunt, PACWEST total offence leader) under control today and forcing them to make some changes. We maybe didn’t adjust quick enough, and they were able to grab momentum back after we won that second game.”

The Cascades got strong defensive efforts from libero Ray Flores and left side Kelly Robertson, both of whom were inserted in the starting lineup for Saturday’s rematch.

“We had some different people step up this weekend, and I like to see that,” Gilray said. “It shows that we’re deep . . . and can be balanced.”

For their part, the Chargers had a better outing tonight than they did yesterday. "Saturday's four set win included a better performance from the service line and on reception. These are the building blocks of the game and are essential." Camosun head coach Chris Dahl said.  "The second set got away from us early and although we had our opportunities late, we ultimately released the pressure we had built up on our opposition. I like the response in the third and fourth sets. We settled into a bit of a rhythm for the first time in many weeks.

"This was another tough weekend of PACWEST competition. We were able to continue to field a number of different lineups and it was great to see our athletes push through and find success... even if those successes were just a small part of our game at times. UFV made the weekend tough and we'll grow from that experience."

The Cascades hit the road again next weekend, facing the College of the Rockies Avalanche in Cranbrook while the Chargers visit the Capilano Blues in North Vancouver.

- with files from Dan Kinvig,  UFV Communications Coordinator