With a 3-1 win Saturday night, the UBC Okanagan women take both from the Wesmen and return to the familiar territory of a winning streak.
Women's Volleyball (Canada West conference match)
Saturday, January 14th, 2017
Dr. David F. Anderson Gymnasium, Winnipeg, MB
FINAL 1 2 3 4 SCORE UBC Okanagan (10-4) 25 25 25 25 3 Winnipeg (1-13) 12 20 27 22 1
WINNIPEG, MB - The UBC Okanagan Heat women’s volleyball team took the second of two matches against the Winnipeg Wesmen this weekend, 3-1 on Saturday night in Winnipeg. Set scores were 25-12, 25-20, 25-27, and 25-22.
The Heat women improve their conference record to 10-4 with the win, while the Wesmen drop to 1-13.
The Heat are on a two match winning streak and head home this upcoming weekend for a showdown with the third ranked in Canada, the Trinity Western Spartans, winners of their last 10, and are 13-1 on the season. The Friday (Jan. 20) night match will get underway at 6 p.m. First serve on Saturday is at 5 p.m.
The third set was the lone win of the night for Winnipeg. UBCO had an exceptional nine-point run before the technical time-out, taking a 14-11 lead as the Wesmen couldn’t seem to find their swing. The latter half of the set saw the home side’s hitters level out, as they were able to put away kills late to force it to extra points. Errors were once again an issue for the Heat, and the final point for Winnipeg came on a UBCO attacking error.
The errors continued for the Heat into the fourth set. The Wesmen were able to take advantage of this early, putting together eight straight points and jumping ahead 11-4. Three runs, two of four points and other of five, put the Heat up 22-17. Jakszuk brought match point with another kill, before Lea buried another to close out the victory.
The Heat’s hitting was the difference in the match, as they finished with more kills and better hitting percentages in all four sets. Final tallies were 53 kills to 36 on percentages of .262 to .103.
Kaitlynn Given, Siobhan Fitzpatrick, and Aidan Lea were once again the top hitters, finishing with 11 kills apiece on Saturday night. Erin Drew led the match in blocks, with six, and Sara McCreary finished with a match-high 43 assists.
The Wesmen attack was led by Danika Picklyk, who finished with 10 kills. Behind her was Maria Colvin, with seven. Libero Madison Fyvie led Winnipeg with 13 digs.
The first set saw the biggest score differential with the Heat taking it by 13, 25-12. Kills were 12-10 for the Heat, who also hit .345 to Winnipeg’s .161. The Heat ran away with the set before the technical time-out, scoring seven straight points that included six kills and a service ace. Two three-point runs, including two more aces and three more kills, closed out the set for the Heat.
The second set was much closer than the first, with the two sides trading runs throughout. The Heat were able to capitalize on Wesmen errors late in the set to put together four consecutive points, jumping ahead 23-18. A pair of kills, from Given and Jakszuk, finished off the set.
MILESTONES: Megan Festival cracks Top 20 in Canada West conference record book for digs (908) she is only the 20th player ever to pass 900 digs....
~ Grayson Leahy, UBC Okanagan