Courtesy of Greystoke Photo
The Heat men’s volleyball team lose to U of S 3-2 in a close scoring match.
Men's Volleyball (Canada West conference match)
Friday, October 23rd, 2015
Physical Activity Centre, Saskatoon, SK
SET SCORES 1 2 3 4 5 TEAM RECORDS UBC Okanagan (2) 25 27 17 26 11 (1-2) Saskatchewan (3) 21 25 25 28 15 (1-2)
SASKATOON, SASK- UBC Okanagan fell short of winning their first Canada West men's volleyball match on the road this season against the University of Saskatchewan.
Despite a strong showing from the Heat after winning the first two sets, the Huskies claimed the win in five at the Physical Activity Centre in Saskatoon (25-21, 27-25, 17-25, 26-28, 11-15).
Fourth year outside hitter Jim Bell led UBC Okanagan’s attack with 20 kills on 42 attempts (.214). Lars Bornemann and Alex Swiatlowski also produced a double digit kill record on the night with 16 and 14 respectively.
Momentum shifted in favour of the Huskies in the fourth set, even after the Heat remained in the game with late set heroics by Swiatlowski who had two big kills that clenched the score 25-24 in favor of the visitors. This was not enough to overcome the Huskies as they claimed the set with two service aces in their last three points (26-28).
The fifth set was close, locked up at 11-11 until the Huskies went on a four point run to close the set 15-11. Andrew Nelson closed the match out for Saskatchewan with a block, he recorded five on the night. The right side finished with the match lead putting down 23 kills, successful on 34-percent of his swings.
The Heat began the game strong, keeping the score close with the home team. The first set had both the Heat and the Huskies leading at various points within the set until the score reached 19-19. UBC Okanagan pulled ahead with a five-point streak and finished off the set with a kill from Swiatlowski (25-21).
In the second set, Swiatlowski served 10 in a row advancing the Heat’s lead to 13-6. UBC Okanagan continued the momentum as the U of S fought back to cut the lead to one point at 23-22. A kill by Lars Bornemann ended the set in the Heat’s favor at 27-25.
The third set found the Heat trailing for the majority of the game. The visitors were unable to handle big hits in the third set from the home team’s Jordan Nowakowski who had a total of 16 kills on 34 attempts on the night (.324). Dylan Tarbett was also strong force in the Saskatchewan offense achieving a double digit kill record of 11.
The Heat record now sits at 1-2 with the loss to the Huskies. Saskatchewan wins its first of the year and improves its record to 1-2.
Building from the strong showing tonight, the UBC Okanagan will look to redeem themselves against the Huskies tomorrow night at 6 p.m. (PST) (Saturday Oct. 24th). Catch the game live at canadawest.tv.
HEAT NOTES: Second year middle Adam Kern received the start tonight in Saskatoon. This was the first start for the Mount Boucherie product.