Heat sweeps Wesmen, braces for Spartans

UBCO rebounds from three-game losing streak to take care of Winnipeg in Canada West women's volleyball

Sara McCreary and the UBC Okanagan Heat won a pair of Canada West women’s volleyball matches in Winnipeg.

Sara McCreary and the UBC Okanagan Heat won a pair of Canada West women’s volleyball matches in Winnipeg.

The UBC Okanagan Heat women got their season back on the right track with a two-game sweep of the hometown Winnipeg Wesmen in Canada West volleyball action.

The Heat, who had lost three straight games for the first time since 2014, responded with a convincing straight set win on Friday over the Wesmen, 25-13, 25-11, and 25-22.

UBCO’s Aidan Lea continued her impressive play this season with nine kills and an .818 hitting percentage, while Siobhan Fitzpatrick had eight kills and seven digs.

On Saturday, the Heat completed the weekend sweep with a 3-1 win (25-12, 25-20, 25-27, 25-22).

Kaitlynn Given, Fitzpatrick and Lea led the Heat attack, finishing with 11 kills apiece.

Erin Drew led the match in blocks, with six, while Sara McCreary finished with a match-high 43 assists.

Heat fifth-year Megan Festival had 15 digs on Saturday, moving her into the top 20 all-time in the conference with 908 digs in her career.

UBC Okanagan (10-4) now prepares for two big matches this weekend at the Kelowna campus against the Trinity Western Spartans.

TWU (13-1) sits in second spot in Canada West. Alberta is first at 12-0.

Friday’s match goes at 6 p.m., while Saturday’s is set for 5 p.m.

Heat men…

The UBCO men came up empty at the University of Winnipeg, losing both matches to the Wesmen.

On Friday, the Heat fell in four sets (25-12, 24-26, 25-14, and 25-16).

Lars Bornemann led the UBCO attack with a match-high 14 kills. Kyle Hinchey finished with 10 kills, while Alex Swiatlowski had a team-high four blocks.

On Saturday, the Wesmen swept the Heat 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, and 25-19.)

Hinchey led the Heat’s attack with 14 kills, while Bornemann added nine kills.

The Heat (4-10) return to action this weekend at home, Friday and Saturday night’s against conference-leading Trinity Western (13-1).

 

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