The University of the Fraser Valley women’s volleyball team wrapped up its first weekend sweep of the 2016-17 PACWEST campaign, following a five-set victory over the Camosun Chargers on Friday with a four-set triumph on Saturday afternoon in Victoria.
The Cascades prevailed by set scores of 25-22, 25-18, 22-25 and 25-13 to improve to 7-11 on the season and gain some breathing room on the Chargers (5-11) in the race for playoff seeding. UFV is in fifth place, and Camosun is sixth.
Jessica Funk and the Cascades knocked off Camosun in four sets on Saturday. (UFV Athletics file photo)
“It’s tough to sweep anyone in this league, and on the road is even tougher,” Cascades head coach Mike Gilray noted. “It was obviously a very important match in the standings, because we were tied going into the weekend (with five wins each). They have two games (in hand) to catch up, but to get that separation was important.
“It was probably our most consistent weekend as far as maintaining our level of energy and consistency both nights.”
Third-year left side Rachel Funk had an outstanding performance for the Cascades, racking up a team-high 12 kills to go with 11 digs and three aces. Kim Bauder notched nine kills, and Mandelyn Erikson chipped in with seven kills on a team-best 39 per cent efficiency. Amy Davidson (13 digs) and Kelly Robertson (11 digs) joined Funk in double figures.
Setter Jessica Funk also had a strong outing for the Cascades, notching 37 assists.
Gilray felt that Saturday was “a much stronger defensive game” for his squad, and was heartened to see his team notch more aces (12) than service errors.
Up next for the UFV volleyball teams is a homecourt weekend (Jan. 27-28) against the first-place Vancouver Island University Mariners. Games run Friday (women 6 p.m., men 8 p.m.) and Saturday (women 1 p.m., men 3 p.m.) in the North Gym at the Envision Athletic Centre.
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