Following a long, intense five-set loss on Friday night, the UBC Okanagan Heat women rebounded to earn a split against the Mount Royals Cougars in Canada West women’s volleyball action in Kelowna.
On Saturday, Steve Manuel’s squad put together a solid and, at times, dominating attack in taking down the previously unbeaten Cougars 3-1 (25-17, 20-25, 17-25, 14-25.)
Ann Richards and Siobhan Fitzpatrick were the most successful hitters on the night for the Heat, putting away 14 kills and 12 kills, respectively.
Sara McCreary finished with 40 assists, while adding two kills, three service aces, and four digs to her stat line.
Sophia Furlan had a match-high 21 digs, and Aidan Lea had a match-high six blocks and added seven kills.
A night earlier, a wild five-setter saw Mount Royal emerge with a 3-2 win (22-25, 25-18, 25-16, 23-15, 15-10).
The difference in the match seemed to be consistency, as the Heat struggled with errors both at the net and from the service line.
Fitzpatrick led the way for the Heat offensively with 14 kills, followed by Aidan Lea and Michelle Jakszuk with 12 apiece. McCreary had 46 of the Heat’s total 51 assists.
Next up for the Heat (4-2) are the Grant MacEwan Griffins (0-4) as the teams meet Friday and Saturday in Edmonton.
Heat men win first
The UBC Okanagan men earned their first victory of the 2017-18 campaign, coming from behind to take down the Mt. Royal Cougars in five sets (15-25, 27-25, 25-18, 25-16, 15-10).
Devon Cote was the Heat’s leading hitter with 10 kills and a .389 hitting percentage. Jon Russo (8), Lars Bornemann (7), and Joshua Harvey (6) were next in kills, while Morgan Nichols had 35 assists for the Heat, 12 digs and three total blocks.
On Saturday, the Cougars turned the tables in a another intense five-set match, beating the Heat 25-23, 20-25, 14-25, 25-15, 15-12.
Bornemann and Cote were the head of the Heat attack on Saturday night, putting down 15 kills apiece and hitting .353 and .273 respectively.
Nichols put up 41 assists, along with seven digs and two kills. Caleb Funk had a match-high seven blocks, while Eli Risso finished with 12 digs for another match-high.
The Heat (1-5) return to action this coming weekend in Edmonton with matches against the winless Grant MacEwan Griffins (0-4).
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