BURNABY, B.C. – The SFU Red Leafs volleyball team fell short on Saturday evening at the West Gym, dropping a Great Northwest Athletic Conference matchup to the visiting Western Washington Vikings, who won all three sets by identical 25-22 scores.
 
Jocelyn Sherman of Victoria, B.C., and Brooke Dexter (Anchorage, Alaska) led the Red Leafs (8-5, 3-2 GNAC) with eight kills each. Sophomore Eva Person (Brentwood Bay, B.C.) had a 27-assist match, while adding five block assists for good measure. Libero Macyn Unger (Prince George, B.C.) had a game-high 18 digs.

The entire Red Leafs team donned orange shirts in the warmup to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. At the SFU volleyball and men's soccer games on Saturday, the SFU Student-Athlete Advisory Committee fundraised for the Indian Residential School Survivors Society, which provides First Nations emotional and cultural support services.

Devyn Oestreich led the Vikings (4-9, 4-1) with an impressive 12-kill performance, while Gabby Kepley had 11 for the visitors.
 
"We didn't execute our game plan the way we wanted. Both offensively and defensively, we didn't execute to our abilities," said SFU head coach Gina Schmidt.
 
"We've played a lot of very good volleyball, so we know what we're capable of. Our team is an experienced group with many different weapons. What we're working on is consistency, and being able to maximize our potential every night. We'll keep working on that. We're doing a lot of good things and I think we'll learn from this and look forward to getting back on the court next week."
 
SFU used a 7-0 run to lead 12-7 in the opening frame. Person and Kalyn Hartmann (Langley, B.C.) came together for a block to start the surge. Person and Ezawa Malish (Coquitlam, B.C.) teamed up for another block on the next play, before the Red Leafs won another five points in a row.
 
But the Vikings clawed their way back into a 19-19 draw before reeling off four straight points to take a 23-19 advantage. SFU again closed the gap to 23-22, but back-to-back miscues saw the Vikings take the first set.
 
The second frame saw WWU race out to a 12-5 lead and never let SFU back into it. The Red Leafs managed to cut the Vikings lead to three points on a few occasions, but that was as close as they could manage while the visitors took another 25-22 set.
 

 
The Red Leafs and Vikings went blow-for-blow in the final frame. WWU went up 15-12 but SFU responded with a 6-1 run capped off by a Malish-Person block. A brilliant Dexter kill evened the set up at 21-apiece. Then, Ostreich got in on a pair of blocks to give WWU a two-point cushion. Coming out of a timeout, Kepley and Vossemkuhl teamed up for another block and point.
 
After Davida Hill (Surrey, B.C.) got the Red Leafs back within two, Vossenkuhl closed the game out with a kill.
 
SFU will now head back out onto the road, as they prepare to face the Montana State Billings Yellowjackets at 6 p.m. (PT) on Thursday, October 5. The Red Leafs will then play the Seattle Pacific Falcons at 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 7 in Seattle.
 
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