Tanner March plays four sets at teh Libero position in the Friday win. (Greystoke Photography)
UBC Okanagan wins in four over Cougars for first conference victory. 3-1 (26-24, 22-25, 25-21, 25-17).
Men’s Volleyball (Canada West conference play)
Friday, November 21st, 2014 BOX SCORE | SCHEDULE & RESULTS
CHKS, Regina, SK
| UBC Okanagan 3 |
Regina 1 |
| FINAL | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | T |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UBC Okanagan (1-12) | 26 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 3 |
| Regina (1-10) | 24 | 25 | 21 | 17 | 1 |
REGINA, SK – UBC Okanagan defeated in four sets the University of Regina’s men’s volleyball team on Friday night giving the visiting Heat their first Canada West victory of the season.
Jim Bell (Surrey, BC) and Lars Bornemann (Victoria, BC) provided the majority of the offence for the Heat, as Bell finished with a match-high 18 kills and Bornemann ended up with 15. Bell’s total of 18 kills was even more impressive considering the third-year middle missed almost the entire fourth after suffering an injury early in the set.
Coach Greg Poitras was very pleased that the ‘Killer B’s’ were able to both have strong games and power the squad to victory. Poitras indicated that the win was a team effort and his guys needed to perform and they did.
The first set saw UBC Okanagan collect four straight points around the technical timeout to take an 18-13 lead, but the Cougars then went on a 7-2 run to tie it up at 20-20. UBC Okanagan then broke a 22-22 tie with two consecutive points, but the Cougars were able to shake off two set points thanks to a Heat service error and an attack error that brought the score back to level at 24-24. But UBC Okanagan put it away from there, as kills by Bell and Alex Swiatlowski (Victoria, BC) gave the visitors a 26-24 win.
The second set saw the Cougars go on a 9-3 run to go up by five points after the technical timeout. Though UBC Okanagan made it interesting as the Heat pulled to within two points on three separate occasions down the stretch, the Cougars held off UBC Okanagan for a 25-22 win that leveled the match at a set apiece.
But the Cougars weren’t able to build on their momentum of that second-set victory. UBC Okanagan replied with a 25-21 win in the third, then clinched their first Canada West win with a 25-17 win in the fourth set. The Heat were – well, hot – in that fourth set, hitting at a .448 clip as a team with 15 kills and just two errors on 29 attacks despite not having the services of Bell.
Kristof Schlagintweit (Abbotsford, BC) piled up 44 assists, 11 digs, and six blocks for the Heat, while Swiatlowski’s 10 kills gave UBC Okanagan three players in double digits along with Bell and Bornemann. Leo Schober (Kelowna, BC) had a match-high eight blocks for UBC Okanagan, which had 17 as a team in the win.
Debuting at Libero was fourth year transfer from Camosun College Tanner March (Kelowna, BC) whom was praised by coach Poitras following the win.
The Cougars (1-10) were led in kills by Steve Carston, who finished with 12 for the match. Noah Miller had a career-high 11 kills for the U of R, while Dalton Wolfe had 32 assists and Andre Borgeaud finished with nine kills and a match-leading 12 digs.
Interestingly UBC Okanagan seems to like playing in the capital city of Saskatchewan as the Heat has won all three of their league matches played in Regina to this point. The Cougars seem to prefer playing in the Okanagan as they have won all four matches in Kelowna. Will the trend continue find out on Saturday as the two teams will meet again following the conclusion of the women’s match. First serve is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. PST at the CHKS.
Watch the action online and stream live stats at canadawest.tv.
– with notes from Braden Konschuh (Regina Sports Information)