It’s set to be a jam packed weekend at UFV’s Envision Financial Athletic Centre this weekend, as Cascades basketball and volleyball teams host six games over Friday and Saturday.
Friday will be a big night, as both of the school’s gyms will be in use simultaneously: basketball in the south gym, volleyball in the north gym. There will also be a banner-raising celebration for the Cascades men’s golf team, honouring their 2018 Canadian University/College Championship. The ceremony will be held in the south gym, prior to the men’s basketball game.
The Cascades men’s basketball team is aiming to run its win streak to four games when the UNBC Timberwolves come to town. The T-Wolves sit third in Canada West, and have the ability to produce a lot of offence.
“They’re a talented veteran team, and we know it’s going to be two tough games,” UFV head coach Adam Friesen said. “We’re going to have to keep them out of transition. They have some really talented guards who can break you down off the dribble. So if we can keep them in front of us and make them play from the perimeter, that gives us our best shot.”
The teams tangle at 8 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday.
The women’s basketball team also welcomes UNBC, and the undefeated T-Wolves will be a tough task.
“UNBC has been building this team for a few years now, and the stats bear out that they’ve had a fantastic start to their season,” women’s head coach Al Tuchscherer noted. “They have three players who are really difficult to stop. Our big challenge this week is to try to come up with a plan to stop their interior play, but also their ability to attack from the perimeter.”
The UFV women sit in 11th place in the Canada West at 3-5.
For the volleyball teams, it will be the battle of Abbotsford, as the Cascades and CBC Bearcats play a home-and-home series on Friday and Saturday.
Both the UFV and CBC men’s volleyball teams have yet to win this season, so it will be critical games for both teams who each have a record of 0-10.
The games tip off at 8 p.m. on Friday and then at CBC’s Columbia Place at 7 p.m. on Saturday.
The UFV women’s volleyball team has risen to ninth in the national rankings and battle a Bearcats squad that hasn’t tasted victory this season.
Games tip off at 6 p.m. on Friday and then at CBC at 5 p.m. on Saturday.