WINNIPEG – The UBC Okanagan Heat women's volleyball team lost in straight sets to open up their Canada West best-of-3 quarter-final series with the U SPORTS No. 3-ranked Manitoba Bisons on Friday Night at the Investors Group Athletic Centre
With both the Heat and Bisons missing their top offensive weapons in
Amaya Perry of Chin, Alta., and Raya Surinx of Winnipeg respectively, it was Manitoba that was able to overcome the loss of the nation's top scorer in Surinx with a balanced and efficient offensive attack that saw them hit .347 percent compared to the Heat's .049 percent.
The Heat turned to third-year middle
Natalie Funk of Strathmore, Alta., to lead the charge on the evening as the sixth-best blocker in Canada showed her prowess early on with two massive solo blocks. She would go on to finish the match with five kills, three blocks and two aces for 9.5 points to pace UBCO.
Olivia Tymkiw of Coldstream, B.C., finished the night as the Heat's top attacker with six kills while Hellen Lacava of Mandaguari, Brazil, and
Korey Jenkins of Calgary, chipped in with five kills each.
Without Surinx, the Bisons turned to Andi Almonte of Winnipeg, who delivered a game-high 13 kills while Brenna Bedosky of Winnipeg, was efficient out of the middle with 10 kills and only two errors on 15 attacks.
Defensively, Julia Arnold of Winnipeg, thwarted a number of Heat attacks on the night as she posted 18 digs while
Sarah Hall of Kelowna, B.C., shone for the Heat with nine.
The story of each set in this matchup was the ability of the Bisons to jump on the Heat early with long service runs to build a comfortable lead.
In the first and second sets, the Heat were able to respond and push back against the Bisons. In the first set, it was Funk's dominance at the net that allowed the Heat to cut into Manitoba's lead and in the second, it was a strong serving performance off the bench from
Chloe Ladd of Lake Country, B.C., that got the Heat to within striking distance.
However, each time the depth of the Bisons came through and they were able to close out the set and take a 2-0 lead.
In the third, the Heat ran out of gas as the hometown team closed out the match.
UBCO will look to regroup and find a response to extend their season when the two teams meet again for Game 2 on Saturday, February 24. First serve is set for 12 p.m. Pacific and the action can be seen live on CanadaWest.tv.
