KELOWNA, B.C. - The UBCO Heat hosted the Winnipeg Wesmen for their first homestand of 2020 but would be defeated in four sets Friday night at the UBC Okanagan Gymnasium.

Daniel Thiessen led the way for the victorious Wesmen with his team-high 17 kills, he would add 17 digs and a pair of aces in the win. UBCO's Denham O'Reilly set a new career-high with 18 kills in arguably his best game in a Heat uniform.

The loss drops UBCO to (0-11) on the campaign as the Wesmen improve to (7-6). 

"Same message as I give all the time, it's incremental growth right so you are trying to get a little bit better. The break was good for us... we've had some good weeks of training before tonight." commented Heat head coach Brad Hudson following his teams defeat.

The Heat's .163 hitting percentage was their highest mark since November 8th. Winnipeg hit .195 in the match.

Nigel Nielsen would record five of his 10 kills in the first set as the Wesmen jumped out to an early lead, taking the set (25-21).

The Heat would steal their first lead of the game since the opening point of the match early in the second set. Powered by Denham O'Reilly and Cam Vanderveen, UBCO would find themselves up (16-11) at the media timeout. The Heat would battle to a (25-17) set win, only their fifth of the season and first since November 16th.

Into the third set, the home squad appeared to be in control but Winnipeg stemmed the tide to take the set (25-19). 

With the game tied at 15's in the fourth set, Winnipeg used a quick (4-0) run to grab the lead. 

Kelowna Secondary grad Christopher Mitchell saw the court for the first time in Canada West play. He had one ace and a dig in his debut for Heat and made an immediate impact coming off the bench late on in all four sets.

The two teams rematch tomorrow night at 6 p.m. PST.

All actions can be watched live on Canada West tv presented by Co-op

~Brandon Smith, Heat Sports Information