The UBC Okanagan Heat would have liked nothing more than to have left a blemish on the Alberta Pandas’ perfect season.
In the end, the unbeaten and No. 1-ranked team in the country was simply too much for the visiting Heat in Canada West women’s volleyball.
In Edmonton, the Pandas swept a pair of matches from UBCO to push their season record to 20-0. Steve Manuel’s Heat slip to 12-8 but managed to clinch a post season berth in the process.
On Friday, Alberta cruised to a 3-0 win (25-15, 25-11, 25-22).
Erin Drew and Kaitlynn Given led the Heat attack with five kills apiece.
On Saturday, the Heat closed the gap but still came up empty in a straight set loss (25-17, 25-19, 25-23).
Attacking errors cost the Heat whose hitting percentage was just .055, compared to Alberta’s .303.
Siobhan Fitzpatrick was the top Heat player, finishing with a match-high five service aces and nine kills. Aidan Lea also had nine kills in the loss.
UBCO, which has four matches remaining in the regular season, will play a home-and-home this week against the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack. The teams meet Thursday in Kamloops, then again Saturday in Kelowna in a 5 p.m. start.
Heat men…
The UBC Okanagan men came up empty in Edmonton, losing both matches to the Golden Bears.
On Friday, the Heat fell 3-1 (25-17, 25-16, 21-25, and 25-23).
Alex Swiatlowski led the way for the Heat with 10 kills, while Joshua Harvey added seven kills and four blocks.
On Saturday, the Bears rolled to a 3-0 win 25-17, 25-21, 25-14.
Lars Bornemann had eight kills for the Heat, while Devon Cote had six. Eli Risso finished with a match-high 12 digs.
The Heat (5-15) will visit Thompson Rivers on Thursday, before returning home to face the Wolfpack on Saturday night at the UBCO gym.
