ABBOTSFORD, B.C. — The Winnipeg Wesmen picked a fine way to get their first win of the season.
The Wesmen women's volleyball team shocked the No. 2-ranked team in the nation Friday, holding off the Fraser Valley Cascades 3-2 (23-25, 25-22, 25-13, 15-25, 16-14) to earn Winnipeg's first win of the Canada West conference season while handing UFV its first loss.
It stands as one of the biggest upsets for the Wesmen in the Canada West era and is the team's most significant upset since Winnipeg took down then No. 4 UBC in back-to-back matches in February 2023.
The Wesmen were full credit for their fifth-set win, coming from 11-9 down with a four-point run that gave them brief control. UFV (4-1) then scored three straight of its own to hold match point, but the next three points were pure grit from the visitors.
Brooke Duncalfe got a kill off hands on the very next serve to make it 14-14, the Wesmen got a touch on Cascades star Lauren Attieh's attack on the next point and transitioned it into a
Selva Planincic kill, and UFV fumbled Duncalfe's serve on match point to send the Wesmen flooding on to the court.
Planincic led the Wesmen (1-2) with 17 kills on 50 swings, which was one off her career-high when she had 51 against Saskatchewan Nov. 26, 2021.
The Wesmen got great middle play throughout the night, led by
Grace Vallis who had 15 kills and hit .462 while adding a solo block and three block assists. She also had seven digs.
Emily Lavallee added to the middle attack with five kills while hitting .333.
Left side
Ella Werbiski recorded her first career double-double with a career-high 11 kills and 11 digs.
Taylor Cangemi had a team-high 18 digs, and setter
Breanne Bazin added 14 to go along with 41 assists.
Attieh was the lone UFV player in double-digit kills with a match-high 28 on 67 swings. Talia Attieh and Mandi Feist, the team's No. 2 and 3 in kills, were held to a combined 16 kills and .122 attacking.
Emily Matsui had a match-high 21 digs.
The teams meet again Saturday at 5 p.m. CT (
Canada West TV /
Live Stats)
