Cougars win opening set, but lose in four to the UBC Okanagan men's volleyball team in their final road match of 2016. Heat play at home this weekend before semester break.
Image Credit: UBCO
November 27, 2016 - 12:07 PM
REGINA, Sask. -- On the road the UBC Okanagan Heat spotted the University of Regina’s men’s volleyball team the opening set on Saturday, only to come back and win the next three in a Canada West match at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
UBC Okanagan’s middle attack was working all night long for the Heat, as Joshua Harvey and Alex Swiatlowski both had big matches. Harvey put down 11 kills and hit .600, while Swiatlowski had kills on nine of his 10 attacks to finish with a match-leading .900 hitting percentage. Harvey added nine blocks in the win – four of which were of the solo variety – to help the Heat improve to 3-5 on the season.
Lars Bornemann had a match-high 13 kills for UBC Okanagan, while Kyle Hinchey added 11 kills and eight digs. Jon Russo collected 45 assists and six digs, while libero Eli Risso led all players with 13 digs.
Brennan Goski’s six kills led the Cougars to a 25-21 win in the first set, but it was all UBC Okanagan from there. The Heat never trailed in a second set which they won by a 25-18 margin, then hit .455 as a team in the final two sets as they came up with 25-16 and 25-19 wins to clinch their second win in as many nights over the Cougars.
The bright spot for the Cougars was the play of rookie outside hitter P.J. Seekings, who came into the game in the second set and put down 11 kills on just 17 attacks and finished with a .471 hitting percentage. Cody Caldwell also had a strong match with eight kills while hitting .600, and setter Michael Corrigan fell just short of a double-double with 42 assists and a team-leading nine digs.
Both teams will close out the first half of the conference schedule with two matches against ranked teams next weekend. The Cougars (0-8) will play at No. 4-ranked Alberta, while UBC Okanagan will host No. 9 Calgary.
The final matches at UBC Okanagan in the calendar year versus the Dinos will take place this upcoming Friday - Saturday. The first serve on December 2nd is at 8 p.m. and an hour earlier on the 3rd 7 p.m.
~ Braden Konschuh, Regina Cougars
News from © iNFOnews, 2016