It is a day that every team counts down to, and, thankfully for the SFU volleyball team, it came three weeks earlier this year than it did in 2012. The Clan women were able to get in the conference win column as they won their first GNAC match of the season, beating the Central Washington Wildcats in five sets.
The Clan got off to a hot start, topping the visitors in a hotly contested first set, winning 25-21. The Wildcats, a nationally ranked program in 2012, were fierce competitors battling back and shutting SFU down in the second and third sets by margins of nine and four, respectively.
But it was in the fourth set that this 2013 team showed their new-found confidence and potential as the teams traded points throughou a long, hard set. The set went past the usual winning mark of 25 points, as the Clan battled to hold the Wildcats from the win before finally scoring two consecutive points to force the fifth set with a win of 30-28.
SFU took charge in the fifth, hungry for the victory, as the score quickly became a seven-point margin in the home team’s favour. The Clan took the match three sets to two, winning the fifth set decidely, 15 to 8. The win brought SFU’s record to 1-2 in the GNAC, an early season victory for a team that has historically suffered in conference play, bringing hope and excitement to the team.
Unfortunately, two days later, the Clan were unable to hold their win streak, falling to the Northwest Nazarene Crusaders in four sets. The home team put NNU away in the first set before ultimately dropping the final three for the loss. All four sets were very competitive battles.
Over the course of the weekend, Brooklyn Gould-Bradbury had 94 assists, 61 in the CWU game alone, as she led her team to their first GNAC victory of the season. Alanna Chan and Alison McKay tallied 45 and 27 digs respectively on the defensive end while Kelsey Robinson led the offence. She recorded 32 kills and 36 digs over the weekend while Amanda Renkema had 25 kills and 10 assisted blocks and Madeline Hait added 29 kills.
