On Saturday night, the Clan took on the second place team in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC), Northwest Nazarene, who came into Burnaby boasting a 16–3 conference record. Simon Fraser managed to win in convincing fashion, with set scores of 25–23, 25–14, 22–25, and 25–16. More importantly, however, was the play of the Clan’s two seniors, Madison Power and Christine Howlett, who had great performances in their last game ever for SFU.
The game got off to a suiting start, as Power got Simon Fraser’s first point with a kill. The set stayed close throughout, with neither team able to pull more than three points ahead of the other. After the score was tied 23–23, an attacking error by Northwest Nazarene player Kendra Bodine followed by a kill from Simon Fraser’s Tessa May gave the Clan the first set victory.
The home team took this momentum into the second set, where they cruised to a 25–14 victory. Kills from Tessa May and Madison Power put Northwest Nazarene out of their misery, in a set where SFU looked the much more dominant team.
Northwest Nazarene would respond in the third and show why they’re one of the west region’s best teams this season. After being down 19–15, the Clan fought back to bring the game within one, but ultimately fell 25–22 after a kill from Northwest Nazarene’s Madi Farrell.
The Clan would then win the fourth set 25–16, with strong play from Howlett down the stretch in her last set in a Simon Fraser uniform.
Howlett finished the game with nine kills and four blocks, while fellow senior Power finished with four kills and one block. “We wanted to send our seniors off on a high note in their final game, and they both stepped up and contributed, both blocking and attacking, and they won some important points for us that swung momentum in our favour . . . it was everything you could ask for on [Senior] Night,” said head coach Gina Schmidt to SFU Athletics after the game.
Tessa May had a fantastic night in the middle, leading the game in both kills and blocks with 21 and 10, respectively. Betsie de Beer and Kirsten Pinkney also had strong performances, finishing with 16 and 12 kills.
The Clan have now won seven of their last nine games, but unfortunately will just miss out on a playoff spot as the fifth place team in the GNAC. They will finish the season with a 12–8 conference record, two games shy of third and fourth place teams Central Washington and Alaska Anchorage.
