The University of the Fraser Valley men’s volleyball team launched its 2017-18 PACWEST campaign in dynamic fashion, defeating the Columbia Bible College Bearcats in three sets on Thursday.
Playing before a pro-Bearcats crowd at Columbia Place, the Cascades prevailed 25-18, 25-18, 25-23.
Nick Bruce racked up a team-high seven kills in Thursday’s season-opening win over CBC. (UFV Athletics file photo)
They’ll face another test from CBC on Friday when the scene shifts to the UFV campus. The back end of the home-and-home doubleheader features the Cascades and Bearcats women’s volleyball teams playing at 6 p.m., followed by the men’s game at 8 p.m. at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre.
“It means a lot to get the W to start the season off right,” UFV bench boss Kyle Donen said. “We know we can be better in certain parts of the game. I thought we had our shaky moments on the passing side of things, but we were able to rebound when needed. We didn’t give up many long runs when they were serving, and we had a good serving game ourselves for the most part.”
The first set was closely contested at the start, with both teams making their share of errors. Midway through the frame the Cascades took control, and they carried that momentum into the second set, winning both in decisive fashion.
In the third, the Bearcats built an 11-7 lead, but UFV rallied to knot the score 15-15. It was a back-and-forth affair from there, with the Cascades’ Cole Nutma tipping the balance in favour of his team, coming off the bench for a service run late in the set.
Senior left side Nick Bruce paced the UFV offence with seven kills and three aces, and setter Adam Frederickson chipped in with three blocks, two kills and an ace in addition to quarterbacking the offence. Sophomore middle Josh Fefchak made his first start as a Cascade, highlighting the performance with a pair of aces. Rookie left side Landon Uy made his PACWEST debut, coming off the bench to notch two kills.
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