KELOWNA, B.C— The UBCO Heat defeated the Brandon Bobcats 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 22-25, 25-18) on Friday in their home opener at UBCO Gymnasium. The Heat totalled 48 kills and 15 service aces while holding the Bobcats to 34 kills and a .123 hitting percentage. Interim head coach
Mark Broome earned the first Canada West regular-season victory of his career.
Leading the Heat was
Korey Jenkins, who had 16.5 points from 14 kills and two service aces while also adding 14 digs. Fifth-year setter
Kylan Finseth finished with 38 assists, five service aces, and 10 digs while
Marija Josipovic recorded 10 kills and 11 digs. Fourth-year middle blocker
Rachel Rosser posted seven kills on a .600 hitting percentage, with three service aces and two block assists.
Libero Brooklyn Pratt recorded 25 digs for the Bobcats while setter Alex Roberge distributed 28 assists and added seven digs, with three block assists. Outside hitter Madelyn Shackleton led the Bobcats with 10 kills and added two service aces.
In the opening set, the Heat edged the Bobcats 25-23 behind an 11-9 advantage in kills and a 5-0 edge in service aces. Josipovic and
Ali Rathlef finished the set with a straight-down block on match point.
UBCO took the second set 25-22, finishing with 13 kills and five service aces while Brandon recorded 10 kills and four aces. Finseth brought in some late aces to push UBCO's lead to three late in the frame, while Jenkins led the Heat with four kills.
The Heat held a 15-12 edge in kills in the third frame, led by five from Jenkins, but the Bobcats took it 25-22. After UBCO tied it 21-21 on a block by Rosser and Josipovic, the Bobcats scored the next three points on errors from the Heat before finishing the set on Hauta's kill.
The fourth set went to UBCO 25-18 as they had 10 kills and four service aces while Brandon recorded four aces and three kills. Jenkins led UBCO with five kills and added a service ace, and Finseth's late ace put the Heat at 24-18 before a Bobcats ball-handling error ended the set and match.
The Heat will be back tomorrow at UBCO Gymnasium at 4 p.m. for a rematch against the Bobcats.
