The top-ranked University of the Fraser Valley women's volleyball team opened the second semester in strong fashion last weekend, winning a pair of road games.
Taking on the Douglas Royals in New Westminster, the Cascades rolled to a straight-sets victory on Friday (25-10, 25-19, 25-23) and fended off the hosts in four sets on Saturday (29-31, 25-21, 25-23, 26-24) to complete the sweep.
UFV improved to 13-1 on the season, tops in the PacWest conference, and on Tuesday, they occupied the No. 1 spot in the latest edition of the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association (CCAA) rankings. It's their third straight week atop the national poll.
"A solid win for us on Saturday night," Cascades coach Dennis Bokenfohr summarized. "On back-to-back nights it proved more difficult to get the second win once again. It was a weekend where we wanted the result on the road."
• In other PacWest action, the UFV men's volleyball team suffered a sweep at the hands of the Royals, the defending provincial champions and national silver medalists.
The Cascades lost in straight sets both nights to fall to 1-13 on the season.
• The Columbia Bible College women's volleyball team, third in the PacWest and ranked No. 14 nationally, split a pair of road games against the Capilano Blues.
The Bearcats won in straight sets on Friday, but dropped the first two sets on Saturday. They rallied to win the next two and force a fifth set, but the Blues prevailed 15-7 to drop the CBC women to 8-6 on the season.
• The CBC men's volleyball team lost both games at Capilano in straight sets. They're 2-12 on the season, but sit one game ahead of UFV for the sixth and final PacWest playoff berth.
• The Bearcats men's basketball team dropped a pair of close games at home to fall to 3-8 in PacWest play. They fell 67-63 to the Quest Kermodes on Friday and 79-66 to Capilano Saturday.
• The CBC women's hoopsters (0-11) are still looking for their first win – they dropped decisions to Quest (73-39) and Capilano (99-47) on the weekend.
VOLLEYBALLERS AT HOME THIS WEEKEND
Both the UFV and CBC volleyball teams play at home on Friday and Saturday.
The Cascades take on Capilano at the Envision Athletic Centre, while the Bearcats host Douglas. At both venues, the women play at 6 p.m. and the men at 8 p.m.
The CBC hoopsters are on the road to face Douglas on Friday and the Langara Falcons on Saturday.