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The UBC Okanagan's volleyball teams are having different trajectories this year, with the women's team beating the 2014 national champions and the men's team committing error after error.
The Heat women's team hosted the Manitoba Bisons, the 2014 national champions Friday night, winning 3-1. In the first frame, they beat the Bisons by an eight point margin with zero errors and hitting .615 in the set. The Manitoba team took the next one with some attack errors by the Heat, but in the third and fourth sets, the Heat turned it up and finished off the night.
Megan Festival, the Heat's top scorer of the night. (Photo Credit: UBC Okanagan)
Three Heat women had double digit kills: Megan Festival with 16, Katie Wuttunee with 13, and Brianna Beamish with 10.
“We have a very deep team and we have a lot of confidence in our young players, and we’re not afraid to play them, and I think that’s a big difference,” said Heat coach Steve Manuel. “You can look down the bench and we’re not afraid to put people in there at various times.”
There's one more game for the weekend, however, and it won't be any easy win. “We need to be sharper than we were tonight,” Manuel said. “We played back on our heels too much too often. [Manitoba’s] a great team, and there’s no quit in them. They just keep coming at you.”
(Photo Credit: UBC Okanagan)
Meanwhile, the men's team lost all three sets to the visiting Manitoba Bisons, making the Heat's record 0-7. The Heat men had a total of 18 service errors in the three sets. Combined with other errors, the Heat's mistakes caused 55 per cent of the Bison's points.
Offensively, the Heat did beat Manitoba with 38 kills to 33, but both had 7.0 blocks.
“We have a lot to work on but we’ll bring it tomorrow,” said second year Heat hitter Lars Bornemann. “[It’s about] just playing our game, not letting what the other team does affect us.”
Both teams will have a rematch with the Bisons on Saturday.
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