UBCO Heat Sports Report November 29 and 30

The UBC Okanagan Heat men's basketball team were unable to conquer the UFV Cascades on Saturday night as they closed out the 2024 portion of their schedule with a 92-75 loss at the UBCO Gymnasium.

The story of the night was the play of UFV guard Dario Lopez of Madrid, Spain, who went off for 33 points in the victory for the visitors. He also added nine rebounds and two assists.

For the Heat, the play of transfer forward DJ Frye of Ogden, Utah, was a bright spot on the night as he poured in 16 points, his most in a Heat uniform, while also adding five rebounds.

Jalen Shirley of Brampton, Ont., led all UBCO scorers in the contest with 17 points while Leon Schenker of Vernon, B.C., reached double figures for the third straight game, finishing with 10 points.

The Cascades three-point shooting proved to be the difference in the game as the connected on 12-of-27 attempts from deep, finishing at 44.4 percent.

The loss leaves the Heat at 3-7 for the season and in sixth place in the Canada West Pacific division at the halfway point of the year. Meanwhile, the Cascades leap ahead of the Heat as they are now 4-6 for the season.

UBCO will have plenty of time to rest up for the second half of the year as they don't return to the court until Friday, January 17 when they take on the Alberta Golden Bears in Edmonton. Game time is set for 7 p.m. Pacific.

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Women's volleyball leaves Calgary with split after loss to Dinos

The UBC Okanagan Heat women's volleyball team wrapped up the first half of their season schedule with a three-set loss (16-25, 21-25, 18-25) to the Calgary Dinos on Saturday at the Jack Simpson Gym.

Fifth-year outside hitting Amaya Perry of Chin, Alta., had a strong performance for the Heat as she hit .471 percent, finishing with a team-best 11 kills off of 24 attacks. She also added nine digs on the defensive side of the ball.

Second-year transfer Kirsten Hill of West Kelowna, B.C., wrapped up her best weekend in a Heat uniform with another strong night. The former SFU Red Leaf finished the match with four kills on seven attacks, including no errors, as she hit .571 percent.

Sophia Hansen of Edmonton, and Daisy Olsen of Airdrie, Alta., helped lead Calgary to victory as they notched 12 and 11 kills respectively.

The Dinos win was powered by a strong hitting night as they connected on .277 percent of their attacks compared to .159 for the Heat. Calgary also won the service battle, firing eight aces while UBCO managed five.

The result sends the Heat into the holiday break with a 4-6 record and 12 points, good for ninth place in the conference. As for Calgary, they sit at 3-7.

The Heat will enjoy a month and a half off before returning to Canada West action on Friday, January 10 when they host their sister-school, the UBC Thunderbirds, at the UBCO Gymnasium. Match time is set for 7 p.m. 

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Women's basketball falls to Cascades in final game before holiday break

- The UBC Okanagan Heat women's basketball team dropped a 63-40 decision to the UFV Cascades in their final game before the holiday break on Saturday evening at the UBCO Gymnasium.

The difference in the game came in the second quarter when the Cascades smothered the Heat's offence, outscoring UBCO 16-3 in the frame to build an 18-point lead at the break. UFV extended their lead in the third quarter before both teams played their reserves for most of the fourth quarter, with UBCO outscoring UFV 14-11 in the final frame.

Despite the loss, Lily Pink of Kelowna, B.C., had a strong night for the Heat, earning player of the game honours with 11 points, five rebounds and one steal.

Temi Aina of Kamloops, B.C., also continued her strong play this weekend with nine points, two steals, two blocks and two rebounds.

UFV was led by Maddy Gobeil of Kamloops, B.C., as she had 15 points, six rebounds and four assists while Esther Allison of Langley, B.C., and Julia Tuchscherer of Chilliwack, B.C., also finished in double figures with 14 and 10 points respectively.

The setback leaves the Heat with a 3-7 record at the midway point of the season while UFV improves to 7-3.

UBCO will now have a month and a half off before their next Canada West action as they return to the court on Friday, January 17 when they travel to Alberta to take on the Alberta Pandas. Game time is set for 5 p.m. Pacific. 

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Men's volleyball closes out 2024 with loss to Dinos

The UBC Okanagan Heat men's volleyball team came out on the wrong end of a three-set match on Saturday as they fell 21-25, 12-25, 16-25 to the Calgary Dinos at the Jack Simpson Gym.

The Heat started the match off strong as they looked to rebound from Friday's four-set loss to Calgary. Thanks to a pair of quick kills from Seba Manuel of Kelowna, B.C., the Heat were able to grab an early 6-3 advantage.

However, the Dinos began chipping away at the Heat lead and took control of the set thanks to a 6-0 run. The Heat would try to battle back, but Calgary's lead would prove to be too much as they snagged the opening frame.

Calgary took the momentum from the first set win and ran with it, jumping out to early leads in the second and third sets to come away with the victory.

While the Heat struggled in attack in the match, one bright spot was the play of Peter Labun of Winnipeg. Moving from libero to outside hitter for the match, the second-year fired a career-best seven kills on just nine attacks, while adding an assisted block to lead UBCO with 7.5 points.

Louis Kunstmann of Neuenhain, Germany topped the Dinos offence once again with a game-high 11 kills.

The loss leaves the Heat with a 6-4 record and 18 points at the holiday break as they sit in sixth place in the Canada West standings. As for the Dinos, they improve to 5-5 on the season, four points back of the Heat.

UBCO will return to action in 2025 when they host the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday, January 10 at the UBCO Gymnasium. Match time is set for 5 p.m. 

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Women's volleyball's hot serving leads to sweep of Dinos

- The UBC Okanagan Heat women's volleyball team used a strong match from the service line, as well as some timely play late in the second and third sets, to knock off the Calgary Dinos in three sets (25-14, 25-23, 29-27) on Friday night at the Jack Simpson Gym.

The Heat were absolutely deadly on their serve, firing 14 aces, their second-most in a match this season. Olivia Boulding of Victoria and Kylan Finseth of St. Albert, Alta., led the way with four each while Natalie Funk of Strathmore, Alta., had two of her own, including one on match point to secure the victory.

UBCO set the tone early with an impressive first set, as they outhit the Dinos .429 to .103, firing 11 kills on just 21 attacks. Leading 16-11 midway through the set, the Heat used a 7-0 run, highlighted by a pair of kills from Faith Solecki of Cochrane, Alta., to easily claim the opening frame.

The second set was a much closer affair as the two teams traded points and runs until the Heat and Dinos found themselves tied at 23. A timeout from head coach Steve Manuel settled his group and UBCO won the final two points thanks to a Funk kill and block on set point from Solecki and Marija Josipovic of West Kelowna, B.C., to take a commanding lead in the match.

The third set went the distance and then some as both teams earned multiple set point opportunities before the Heat's 14^th ace of the match from Funk gave the visitors the victory.

Josipovic and Boulding led the offensive attack with nine kills each while Funk chipped in with eight.

Setter Calista Cencig of Kelowna, B.C., posted a career-best 26 assists as she handled setting duties for much of the second and third sets, distributing the ball well to her hitters.

"That was a gutsy performance by the team tonight," commented Heat head coach Steve Manuel after the match. "Several players new to the lineup really stepped up and played well. We will regroup and try to do it all again tomorrow."

Daisy Olsen of Airdrie, Alta., led all hitters in the match with 14 kills.

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Women's basketball hangs tough with No. 5 Thunderbirds

- The UBC Okanagan Heat women's basketball team gave the visiting U SPORTS No. 5-ranked UBC Thunderbirds all they could handle on Friday night but ultimately fell 87-74 at the Furnace.

The difference in the match was the play of UBC in the opening half. The Heat managed to keep the Thunderbirds within striking distance for much of the first 20 minutes until a 6-0 run by UBC in the final minute, assisted by a pair of Heat turnovers, gave the Thunderbirds a 13-point cushion.

The Heat would play UBC straight up in the second half, with each team scoring 38 points, but UBCO would get no closer than seven points in the final 20 minutes as they dropped the first of three meetings with their sister-school rivals.

Lauren Foullong of Orangeville, Ont., led the Heat's offensive charge, pouring in 14 points thanks to a trio of three-pointers, while adding two rebounds.

Temi Aina of Kamloops, B.C., was strong off the bench, scoring a season-best 13 points to go with seven rebounds while Lily Pink of Kelowna, B.C. added 11 points.

UBC's Olivia Weekes of Winnipeg paced all scorers in the game with 20 points.

The Thunderbirds would finish the game shooting 44.4 percent from the floor while the Heat shot 41.3 percent, including hitting seven three pointers. However, UBC was stronger on the boards, grabbing 48 to the Heat's 36, and the Thunderbirds were able to turn the Heat over 30 times on 18 steals, compared to 24 turnovers for UBC on eight Heat steals.

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Men's volleyball drops four-set decision to Dinos

The UBC Okanagan Heat men's volleyball team struggled to find their rhythm on Friday night as they lost a four-set match (17-25, 17-25, 25-23, 14-25) to the Calgary Dinos at the Jack Simpson Gym.

The Dinos came out strong in the opening two sets, hitting .467, while the Heat were unable to get their offence going as they found themselves down quickly by two sets.

The third set was a different story as UBCO found their footing thanks to a strong start to the frame, jumping out to a 4-0 lead. Calgary would battle back and the two teams traded points until the set was tied at 20.

UBCO would find another gear over the final eight points, highlighted by a pair of kills from Seba Manuel of Kelowna, B.C., as the Heat hit .250 in the set compared to just .081 for the Dinos, to pull themselves back into the game.

However, any chance of a Heat comeback was quickly snuffed out by the hosts as Calgary started the fourth set on a 9-0 run en route to the victory.

Manuel paced the Heat's offensive efforts in the match with a team-high 11 kills. Ashton South, playing in his hometown, was strong in the middle with seven kills on 11 attacks, while fellow hometown boy Zach van Geel had 36 assists.

Louis Kunstmann of Neuenhain, Germany was the Dinos top offensive threat in the match, posting a game-high 14 kills.