A chilly Okanagan weekend wasn’t enough to cool down the UBCO Heat, as Steve Manuel’s squad pushed its winning streak to four in Canada West women’s volleyball.
The Heat took both ends of a weekend doubleheader from the young Saskatchewan Huskies at the Kelowna campus gym.
Depite not being at their best on Friday, the Heat pounded out a four set win (25-22, 25-17, 23-25, 25-14) over the Huskies.
“I would classify that as an ugly win by us,” said coach Steve Manuel. “We didn’t perform very well, but we found a way to get the job done.”
Fourth-year Heat outside hitter Brianna Beamish had a team-high 16 kills (.424) while chipping in two solo blocks and four digs en route to player of the game honours.
On Saturday, it was a more complete effort from the Heat in a 3-0 win (25-18, 25-10, 25-17).
Third-year Heat outside Megan Festival had match-high 12 kills (.478), three service aces and 10 digs to earn player of the game honours.
The Heat go back on the road this weekend as they play a pair of matches in Regina against the Cougars.
Heat men winless
The UBCO men are still looking for their first W of the season after being swept at home by the University of Saskatchewan Huskies.
On Friday, Heat fell 3-0 (25-20, 25-17, 25-17).
Second-year Heat middle Joshua Harvey was the most efficient scorer on the floor for the match as he recorded a team-high ten kills on a .529 rate, adding four digs and one solo block to the stat sheet.
On Saturday, a tighter match but the same result in a 3-0 (25-22, 25-19, 25-21) Saskatchewan victory.
The Heat allowed eight service aces and tallied eight service receptions, 16 easy points that could have easily swayed the course of otherwise tight-knit sets in their favour.
“We’ve got to review our defensive system and continue working on our first contact,” was the simple message from Heat coach Greg Poitras following the match, with regard to what the practice sessions this upcoming week will look like. “Our system play was not very good defensively.”
Third-year outside hitter Alex Swiatlowski led the Heat with nine kills (.368) to go with two service aces, three digs and one block assist.
UBCO (0-12) will head east this weekend for a pair off matches against the Regina Cougars.
