CIS men's volleyball Sunday roundup: Heat fall in five set heartbreaker
KELOWNA, BC – Looking for their first win of the season, the Heat jumped on the defending national champions taking the first two sets.
Source: UBC Okanagan Sports Info / Photo credit Dale Abbey
KELOWNA, BC – Looking for their first win of the season, the Heat jumped on the defending national champions taking the first two sets. The combination of Trinity experience and UBC Okanagan inexperience allowed the favoured Spartans to quell the upset and win in five sets on Sunday afternoon in Kelowna, 3-2 (20-25, 22-25, 25-19, 25-13, 15-09).
The tightly contested match featured nine lead changes and 24 tie scores, with neither the Spartans nor the underdog Heat willing to back down. Service errors proved to be the Heat’s downfall as they had 16 to the Spartans’ eight.
The Heat looked to be on their way to their first win of the season as they took a commanding two set lead over the Spartans, notching 76.5% on their team attack versus the Spartans’ 65% team attack. However, the Spartans came back in the third revitalized, never looking back as they averaged approximately 79% on their team attack for the last three sets. The Heat’s drop in attack efficiency proved fatal as their team average dropped to 50% for the last 3 sets.
Fifth year middle and player of the game Brett Uniat (Cochrane, AB) logged a solid hitting percentage of 50%. He had 12 kills, four digs and six blocks, two of which were solo blocks. Second year setter Jon Russo (Lake Country, BC), playing outside hitter Sunday night, had 13 kills and eight digs.
Spartans third year outside hitter Nicholas Del Bianco (Langley, BC) had a game high 22 kills, along with two aces and 11 digs. Fourth year outside hitter Steven Marshall (Abbotsford, BC) added 10 kills and 17 digs to the Spartan offensive effort.
The Heat are now 0-12 in league play while the Spartans move up to 10-2. After final exams the Heat will travel to Los Angeles for the holidays to take part in NCAA exhibition play.
Following Christmas break, UBC Okanagan will resume league play in Regina against the University of Regina Cougars in another Saturday/Sunday double header January 12-13. In the first conference action for the Spartans after the break, they will be hosting the Brandon University Bobcats in Langley on Thursday January 10th at 6 p.m.