Bobcats take set off No. 2-ranked Cascades

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This article was published 24/01/2025 (238 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Megan Pickford put the finishing touch on a not-so-little victory on Friday night.

While the Fraser Valley Cascades bounced back to beat her Brandon University Bobcats 3-1 (25-18, 22-25, 25-22, 25-14) and improve to 12-1 in the Canada West women’s volleyball standings, it was a huge step forward for BU (1-12) to steal a set from the No. 2-ranked team in the country.

Up 24-22, Pickford reacted to a Bobcat over bump and quickly reached one arm out to deny Lauren Attieh with an incredible rejection, bringing the Healthy Living Centre crowd to a roar.

“That was so fun, that was so awesome, I won’t lie. That was cool,” Pickford said, laughing and grinning ear to ear.

“It was a good feeling and how my teammates came and cheered me on, it was so uplifting. We’re just like that, how we uplift each other.”

“We had such good energy out there, it was incredible,” she added. “We took that second set there and we kept firing away in that third set. We know we got ‘em, we know we can do it.”

The Bobcats started with a brief 4-1 lead after a good Carly Thomson serving run but the Cascades started rolling soon after, breaking the first set open on a six-point run to lead 11-8.

BU had few answers for Lauren Attieh, who piled up six of UFV’s 15 kills to breeze through the first set.

Brandon went down early in the second but battled back as its defence led to Thomson finding middle blocker Nerissa Dyer for back-to-back kills.

Pickford kept the quick offence going when she rotated in tossing in two kills and an ace to lead 15-14.

After a three-point UFV run, BU’s captains answered. Avery Burgar scored from the back row, then Thomson made a huge solo block.

Burgar hammered an over bump home, then Thomson tossed a crafty dump to the floor. Burgar capped the run with a sharp cross-court rocket to lead 21-18.

Thomson scored again on a smart set to the back corner after Burgar dove to pancake a serve that clipped the tape and appeared destined for the floor, making it 23-20.

UFV drew within one but Thomson connected with Pickford for her third kill of the set on a tough, angled set, then Pickford reached with one arm for an inconceivable block on Attieh to tie the match 1-1.

Pickford felt confident to swing away heading into that penultimate point.

“Why not? What do I have to lose? Swing and what happens, happens,” Pickford said, adding her teammates made the middle game work.

“The passing was phenomenal. We’ve been working on it a lot so that really shows how much effort we put into practice … which makes me so proud of the team.”

Brandon put up a great fight in the third, leading 8-4 early as Pickford blocked the lights out.

But Talia Attieh rattled off a six-point serving run to rip back ahead.

Kallie Ball replied with two aces on a four-point run, but Talia Attieh blasted three straight kills as UFV strung five more points together to lead 19-17 and never trailed again.

The Cascades left no doubt in the fourth, going up 18-8. The Bobcats refused to quit, forcing a timeout at 19-13, but UFV collected itself and knocked down a few smart shots to close it out.

Lauren Attieh finished with a match-high 20 kills and six errors while Burgar led BU with 13 and three.

Thomson posted seven kills, two errors, four aces and a team-high 13 digs.

They’ll do it all again today at 6:45 p.m.

“We’re so optimistic about it,” Pickford said. “We’re going to practise really hard (Saturday) at pre-game practice and we’re going to give them a run for their money.”

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