The Heat women were unable to gather any momentum against the No. 7 Alberta Pandas as they dropped Saturday night’s match in three sets.
The home team served up a season-high 14 aces compared to just one error as the Heat fell by set scores of 25-13, 25-15 and 25-13.
Rookie setter Sarah Demers got her first career start at setter and racked up 21 assists and six digs as Heat coach Steve Manuel changed up his lineup.
For the inexperienced Heat, it was a weekend of learning. They were swept both games but showed some signs of hanging in there against a much more experienced Pandas’ squad.
“I don’t feel like we played necessarily any better (on Saturday). The Pandas served incredibly well, and they only had one error. They played such an efficient game,” said Heat head coach Steve Manuel, who was really impressed with Demers in her first start
“We’re young and trying to figure things out and we’re making a lot of young errors and when you do that, you don’t give yourself a chance, but this team works hard and we know we’re going to get better,” Manuel said.
“They’re in a full playoff prep mode and we’re playing catch-up. We’re in two completely different places in our development and it makes it tough for us to compete.”
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Third-year outside hitter Kory White led Alberta with 11 kills, while third-year middle Vanessa Jarman chipped in with nine kills. Fourth-year middle Aidan Lea and rookie left side Jade Bussard led UBCO with five kills each in the loss.
Alberta improves to 16-6 in the Canada West conference, while UBCO has lost 12-straight and fall to 2-20.
UBC Okanagan closes out their regular season next weekend at home against the TRU WolfPack, while Alberta travels to Winnipeg to face the Wesmen.
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Next weekend will be the final home games for UBCO, and with the matchup versus TRU the Heat will be playing for the Presidents’ Cup. Additionally, on Saturday, the Heat will honour three graduating players in Sophia Fulran, Aidan Lea, and Ann Richards.
“Our serve game is starting to really come alive, and this is a gym we need to be comfortable serving in,” said Pandas head coach Laurie Eisler, her team hosting the 2019 U SPORTS national championship on March 15 to 17.
“That’s one you want to remember because that doesn’t happen very often. We had a couple players that put together some real good streaks. When you’re feeling confident and you want the ball, it’s a good feeling.”
Alberta and UBC Okanagan battled back and forth in the opening set, but once sophomore outside hitter Julia Zonneveld got to the service line with Alberta leading 13-10, the Pandas went on a big run.
Offensively, senior setter Mariah Walsh was spreading the ball around and Zonneveld recorded three of the Pandas seven aces in the opening set. Alberta kept their foot on the gas pedal and went on a 12-3 run to finish for a 1-0 set lead.
They did more of the same in the second and third sets against a young and inexperienced Heat squad.
In the second set, the Pandas went on a 14-7 run to close it out and, in the final set, it was an 18-8 run.
“We kept our scoring runs going and that’s so critical in a set when you can run some points on an opponent,” said Eisler.
“We’re really working hard and staying where they need to be mentally. We know how challenging volleyball can be in February and March, and it was a real efficient weekend for us.”
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