KELOWNA, B.C. - The UBC Okanagan Heat women's volleyball put on a serving clinic on graduating seniors night as they set a new program record for most aces in a three set match helping them defeat the Regina Cougars in straight sets, 25-17, 25-11, 25-21, at the UBCO Gymnasium.

The Heat were unstoppable from the service line on Friday night, recording a whopping 18 aces to surpass the previous record of 16 set back in October of 2022.

Graduating senior Amaya Perry led the Heat with six service aces across three sets, setting a new all-time Heat record for career serving aces as she now sits at 166 for her career. That passes the previous record of 163 held by Megan Festival. Perry performances also leaves her in second place on the Canada West all-time leaderboard nine behind the record of 175 held by Alberta's Kacey Otto.

Perry also extended her lead atop the Heat's all-time kills and points list with nine kills and 16 points in the match after claiming both records on Friday night. She now has 899 kills and 1133.5 points, besting the previous marks in the categories of 888 and 1113.5, both held again by Festival.

Olivia Boulding was an offensive machine tonight putting up 11 kills on 26 attempts, achieving a .346 hitting percentage. Veteran outside hitter Olivia Tymkiw also set a new career best from the service line putting up four of her team's 18.

In the first set after an initial two-point Cougars lead the Heat took back control. Boulding and Natalie Funk were instrumental in solidifying a Heat lead, contributing multiple kills and service aces. Middle blocker Madison Gardner secured the set for the Heat, sending one down the middle with an assist by Calista Cencig, concluding the set at 25-17.

In the second set, UBCO came out the gates firing, highlighted by Gardner's back-to-back kills, bringing the score to 3-1. Tymkiw's service aces played a crucial role in furthering the Heat's convincing lead while Perry showed up with a big kill at 19-10 as well as two aces late to make it 24-10. Boulding would send one to the floor two points later securing a decisive 25-11 set victory for the home team.

UBCO started the third set strong with Perry achieving a service ace, leading to an early 2-0 advantage. Despite a brief scoring run by Regina, including two consecutive service aces by Samantha Krausher, the home team regained momentum with notable performances from Boulding and Funk, each securing service aces at crucial moments. The set concluded with Tymkiw's decisive kill at 25-21, securing the three-set for the Heat.

The Heat improve to 6-12 on the season while the Cougars drop down to 4-16. The win pulls UBCO back into a playoff position as they sit in a three-way tie with Trinity Western and Calgary for ninth in the Canada West standings with two games remaining in the season.

Next weekend women's volleyball is on the road as they face the Winnipeg Wesmen (7-10) for a pair of games in their final weekend of the 2024-25 season.  The weekend will prove cruicial for the Heat as they continue the fight for a playoff berth.  The first serve of the weekend is set for Friday February 14th at 4 pm Pacific in Winnipeg.