After over 1,000 days since the program's official launch, Fraser Valley Cascades' men's and women's volleyball coaches Nathan Bennett (left) and Janelle Rozema preside over their respective team's home Canada West debuts this Friday against visiting Thompson Rivers. (Photo graphic by Dan Kinvig property of UFV Athletics 2022. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Volleyball University Women's Volleyball

“It’s been an Everest of a task!” After 1,003 days of waiting, gritty UFV Cascades’ volleyball teams make their Canada West home debuts Friday!

ABBOTSFORD — More times than not, it’s felt like an impossible journey for the women’s and men’s volleyball players who populate the expansion rosters of the Fraser Valley Cascades.And we’re not espousing about anything here as grandiose as either program capturing a national title in their debut seasons in U SPORTS.No.All we’re talking about is […]

Terry Fox senior point guard Cerys Merton has been there to give her team a helping hand throughout her entire high school basketball career. (Photo by Howard Tsumura property of Varsity Letters 2021. All Rights Reserved)
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A Sunday Read: What defines the heart of Terry Fox’s UBC-bound point guard Cerys Merton? “She never turns down a battle!”

PORT COQUITLAM — Cerys Merton was born with a drive that needs no ignition.And these days, as we hit the stretch drive to the B.C. senior girls basketball championships, it’s a most fitting way to describe the energy and the presence that the Terry Fox Ravens’ senior point guard brings each time she sets foot […]

Simon Fraser's Josiah Mastandrea had the touch coming off the bench on Saturday, scoring 16 points in a pivotal GNAC victory over Seattle Pacific. (Photo by Wilson Wong property of SFU athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Simon Fraser men’s basketball: Sitting in first place atop the GNAC standings, SFU set to embark on marathon schedule of games over next three-plus weeks!

BURNABY —A famine filled with cancellations has added up to a feast of games for the Simon Fraser men’s basketball team.In what will amount to playing almost a half season of conference games over a span of just over three weeks, SFU opened a gruelling stretch of nine games over a span of 24 days […]

Bringing focus to team basketball, UFV Cascades' veteran forward Natalie Rathler (centre with ball) locks eyes with hard-cutting teammate Alexis Worrell during a game against the TWU Spartans. The 8-1 teams meet for a pair this weekend in Abbotsford. (Photo by Gibi Saini property of University of the Fraser Valley athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Basketball

Cascades thriving on its “one tough shot” mantra! Canada West’s top defence keys empowering ripple effect as 8-1 UFV hosts 9-1 TWU in weekend summit series!

ABBOTSFORD — It’s an axiom which has echoed through countless Fraser Valley Cascades’ women’s basketball practices over the 20 years in which Al Tuchscherer has served as the program’s head coach.This season, however, you could say in a figurative sense that those echoes have become deafening.“We always say that we want to give teams one […]

Simon Fraser's Elliot Dimaculangan twice hit big second-half treys but shorthanded SFU fell to host St. Martin's on Saturday in Lacey, Wash. (Photo by Paul Yates property of SFU athletics 2022. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Shy its top two scorers and coming off a 40-day lay-off, Simon Fraser men battle hard in loss at first-place St. Martin’s

Maybe some time later this season, the Simon Fraser men’s basketball team will have the basketball karma work in their favour.On the road Saturday in Lacey (Wash.), that was clearly not the case in an 80-55 loss to the host St. Martin’s Saints (11-3, 4-1), who used the win to move into first place in […]

Trinity Western first-year guard Shemaiah Abatayo, continually looking to take her game to another level, gets the toughest test of her season Thursday. Abatayo's 8-0 Spartans entertain the 7-1 Fraser Valley Cascades at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Mark Janzen property of Trinity Western athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Women's Basketball

B.C. women’s hoops game of the year! It’s 8-0 Trinity Western against 7-1 Fraser Valley in what’s shaping up as a classic clash Thursday night at the LEC!

LANGLEY — They are historic geographic rivals dating back to their days on the provincial college circuit when the British Columbia Collegiate Athletic Association was perhaps the longest league moniker in all of North American post-secondary sports.And they’ve spent a good long time building up their respective programs since moving up to U SPORTS.Yet on […]

Battling through the COVID-cancelled season and re-emerging as a scoing and rebounding force for Simon Fraser basketball, 7-foot senior Julian Roche is playing the best basketball of his career. He suits up Thursday for SFU's GNAC home opener against Alaska Fairbanks. (Photo by Paul Yates property of SFU athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Basketball

Julian be nimble, Julian be quick! Now 75 pounds lighter, here’s why Simon Fraser’s 7-foot centre Julian Roche is playing the best basketball of his career!

BURNABY — The biggest man on Burnaby Mountain is standing taller than ever.Julian Roche has stopped growing, yet there seems little question these days that Simon Fraser’s 7-foot senior centre is reaching new heights in every part of his life, including on the court where his team-leading 15.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per game are […]

Terry Fox's Lauren Clements, Alisha Weloy and Ana-Maria Misic traded in their Ravens garb for a moment this week for a sneak peak of what the trio will look like in UFV Cascades' colours next season. The three are back in uniform tonight as B.C.'s No. 1-ranked Quad-A team opens play at the Tsumura Basketball Invitational at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Dan Kinvig property of University of the Fraser Valley athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball University Women's Basketball

A trio of Ravens sign with Fraser Valley Cascades women’s basketball: Misic, Weloy, Clements chart their Canada West futures together!

LANGLEY — In announcing on Thursday the signing of three players from the B.C. Quad-A No. 1-ranked Terry Fox Ravens senior girls basketball team, Fraser Valley Cascades head coach Al Tuchscherer was posed a question whose answer would speak best to the total impact of incoming the trio.If you were coaching a three-on-three team of […]

Simon Fraser's Jessica Wisotzki has undergone a renaissance in her offensive game at the university level. (Photo courtesy Simon Fraser athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature High School Girls Basketball University Women's Basketball

Jessica Wisotzki: How the simple game of one-on-one helped show Simon Fraser’s super sophomore the way to unlock her true scoring talents!

BURNABY MOUNTAIN — Sometimes simple works best. Just ask Jessica Wisotzki.As the Simon Fraser women’s basketball teams continues preparation this week for its Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener Saturday (7 p.m.) in Bellingham against its arch rivals, the Western Washington Vikings, perhaps you have noticed a defined uptick in the sophomore guard-forward’s scoring numbers throughout […]

Trinity Western Spartan head coach Ben Josephson guided his team in seven matches against national team competition, and seven more against NCAA Div. 1 foes, all as part of a huge load of competition coming out of the cancelled 2020 COVID season. On Friday and Saturday, the Spartans play host to UBC at the Langley Events Centre. (Photo by Mark Janzen property of Trinity Western athletics 2021. All Rights Reserved)
Feature University Men's Volleyball

Trinity Western men’s volleyball 2021-22: After cancelled season, battle-tested Spartans know that only their best will do against LEC-visiting rival UBC Thunderbirds!

LANGLEY — First, just days into the COVID lockdown back in March of 2020, they were denied the chance to defend their U SPORTS men’s national volleyball championship status.Then, of course, they were a part of a mass cancellation which wiped out their entire 2021 season.With all of that in mind, it pretty to easy […]