After being a Simon Fraser University student for nearly four years, it took me that long to finally attend my first SFU sporting event at Burnaby Mountain. I had the pleasure of attending the Red Leafs volleyball game against the Seattle Pacific Falcons on November 2, 2023. I’m familiar with the rules of volleyball since I’ve played during my high school days, and being a spectator for the first time at a university level game … it was amazing to witness live. I had gone to the event with a friend who knew the bare minimum about volleyball but she was very excited to learn more about the sport. During the whole game I was surprised of how much volleyball lingo and hand signals I remembered and had taught my friend next to me when she didn’t quite understand some of the calls. It was a great learning experience for her and a great refresher for me.
Volleyball Overview
As a quick overview in volleyball, the games are structured as a best of five matches, first to three games win. Sets are won once a team reaches 25 points first or wins ahead by two points once it passes the 25-25 threshold. In the instance that both teams reach 2-2 in sets respectively, the fifth and final game is first to 15 points, no overtime, and no win by two points.
SFU #17 Harmann kill, scoring a point for SFU
SFU vs SPU Summary
This game was the Red Leafs second encounter with the Falcons as they previously went 0-3 back in early October. Red Leafs took the first set comfortably over the Falcon’s and had set the pace for the game. But during the second set, both teams went back and forth with slight leads over each other with Seattle Pacific ultimately taking the second set. The third game, the Falcon’s had taken over completely and swept up that set nicely. SFU had bounced back during the fourth set establishing a 5-point lead and had won the set 25-19.
It all came down to the fifth and final game, tied 2-2, that last game was a seat-clencher as points bounced back and forth. Both teams showcased wonderful volleyball, long rallies, and could barely pull two points ahead of each other. The downfall for SFU occurred once it reached 13-12. With a service error on SFU’s side, the score tied at 13-13 and the final two points were scored by the Falcon’s kill and a block to close out an amazing five set gameplay.
Conclusive Thoughts
Despite SFU not winning the game, they performed very well against SPU considering their 0-3 lose prior. Stats wise, SFU dominated in Kills, Digs, and Aces but only lacked in block points. The Falcon blocks were insanely good and the Red Leafs did a great job against them overall. The crowd filled with 271 attendees went crazy and had cheered loudly throughout the five games. There were multiple points when my hands would be stinging from clapping so hard whenever the Red Leafs pulled off unbelievable plays. For my first time ever attending a SFU sporting event, I would go again based on this cool experience I got to share with my friend.
Simon Fraser University Athletics. (2023). Volleyball vs Seattle Pacific on 11/2/2023 – Box Score. SFU Athletics. https://athletics.sfu.ca/sports/womens-volleyball/stats/2023/seattle-pacific/boxscore/4890