KELOWNA, B.C. –
Olivia Boulding had 16 kills in her debut while senior
Amaya Perry added 14 to lead the UBC Okanagan Heat women's volleyball team to a four-set win (25-19, 14-25, 25-16, 25-15) over the MacEwan Griffins on Friday night at the UBCO Gymnasium.
The dynamic duo were electric in the Heat's home opener as they combined for over half of the Heat's points with Boulding recording 17.5 while Perry added 17.
Boulding, in her first season with the Heat after transferring home from the University of Montana, was nearly unstoppable in her first regular season contest with UBCO. The native of Victoria hit .351 on 37 attacks, while adding eight digs, an ace and a block.
Meanwhile Perry, the fifth-year senior from Chin, Alta., hit .258 off 31 attacks while also providing strong defence with nine digs and two blocks. She added two aces in the match, giving her 137 in her career, good for 12
th all-time in Canada West history, as she continues her climb up the conference record books.
Fourth-year middle
Natalie Funk of Strathmore, Alta., also hit double-digits in kills, finishing with 10 on 21 attacks with just a single error to hit .429. She added six blocks and finished with 14 points.
Setter
Kylan Finseth of St. Albert, Alta., who was also making her Heat debut, posted 40 assists along with five digs, four blocks and three aces.
"I like how our veterans settled in and played a solid match tonight," commented head coach
Steve Manuel following the victory. "That allowed some of our newer players like
Olivia Boulding and
Kylan Finseth to settle in to their first Canada West match ever.
Amaya Perry was great in all aspects of her game and
Natalie Funk was totally dominant at the net."
Evangeline Zeyha of Grand Prairie, Alta., was the top performer for the visiting Griffins, producing eight kills and a team-high 12 points.
The Heat got off to a flying start thanks to Perry who fired eight aces in the opening set, including the final two points UBCO would score in the opening frame.
After dropping the second set, the Heat responded in the third set and once again it was Perry at the centre of the action. The veteran went on an eight-point serving streak, highlighted by three kills from Boulding, as UBCO claimed the third set.
In the fourth, UBCO jumped on the Griffins early, going ahead 8-1 thanks to strong serving from Finseth and Perry and they would never look back en route to the win.
The Heat (1-0) will be back in action again on Saturday against the Griffins (0-3) as they wrap up their weekend doubleheader at the UBCO Gymnasium. First serve is set for 4 p.m. and tickets to the game can be purchased at the door.
