Rachel Funk lines up an incoming serve during Friday’s PACWEST league game vs. Douglas.
The University of the Fraser Valley women’s volleyball team had the No. 5-ranked team in the nation on the ropes, but the Douglas Royals used an epic second-set comeback as a springboard for a four-set victory on Friday evening at the Envision Athletic Centre North Gym.
The Cascades claimed the first set 25-18 and were up 24-21 in the second, but the Royals reeled off six of the next seven points to win 27-25. They rolled from there, taking the next two sets by scores of 25-19 and 25-23.
UFV (2-6) and Douglas (6-1) have a rematch set for Saturday evening at 5 p.m. at the Envision Athletic Centre South Gym.
“We didn’t do it when we needed to,” Cascades head coach Mike Gilray summarized. “Anybody can play before game point – you’ve got to want to be able to put it away.
“I think people let it (the ending to the second set) affect how they were going to play the rest of the game. We played safe and afraid to make errors the rest of the match, and we lost because of it. We had total control of the game.”
Left sides Kim Bauder (11 kills) and Rachel Funk (10 kills) paced the Cascades’ offence, while libero Amy Davidson (23 digs) and Bauder (19 digs) had prolific passing performances.
“You’re not going to win in this league playing safe,” Gilray reiterated. “We were afraid to make errors and afraid to lose, and that’s exactly what we did – we made errors and we lost.”
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