Beating the No. 4-ranked team in the nation on their home court proved just as tough as it sounds for the University of the Fraser Valley women’s volleyball team on Friday evening.
The Cascades took the ferry across to Victoria to face the Camosun Chargers, and sustained a three-set defeat (25-19, 25-21, 27-25).
UFV, ranked No. 9 in the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA), had pushed the Chargers to the limit in Abbotsford in the first semester, dropping a pair of five-set thrillers. They were competitive again on Friday, but were unable to get those crucial points to finish off any of the three sets.
“We just got beat by a team that was a little bit better prepared tonight,” said Cascades head coach Dennis Bokenfohr, whose team fell to 9-6 this season, good for third in the PacWest conference. “Not that our intentions weren’t correct or we weren’t trying, but it’s tough to get a result on the road against a good team.”
UFV had a terrific start, building a 9-3 lead in the first set, but the Chargers found traction at that point and rallied to win by six.
After Camosun took the second set, the Cascades played well in the third and had a chance to serve for the set, only to watch the Chargers stage a comeback.
The two teams play again on Saturday at 1 p.m.
“I thought our team showed some pretty good resilience in coming back (in the third set),” Bokenfohr said. “We just didn’t finish off the set the way we would have liked.
“Sometimes losing has a way of refocusing you. Tonight wasn’t for a lack of trying – we were very close, and I fully expect a continued effort to improve tomorrow.”
Comments are closed.