VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds women's volleyball team rolled to a 3-0, straight sets win over the Brandon Bobcats on Friday night,  taking a 1-0 lead over their Manitoban counterparts in the best-of-three Canada West playoff quarterfinal series.
 
Final set scores were 27-25, 25-14, and 25-14.
 
Even with the lopsided final, UBC head coach Doug Reimer had reason to be nervous early on. The Bobcats came into the contest red-hot, winners of their last dozen matches, and his 'Birds were behind 6-1 in the early going.
 
"We were a little tight early on and I thought Brandon played very well," said Reimer. "Credit to us to hang in there in that first set. It's not often you get your first lead at 27-25."
 
After the early pitfall, the T-Birds rolled, featuring a balanced attack with Juliana Kaufmanis (Richmond, B.C) and Danielle Brisebois (Bolton, B.C.) each recording seven kills, while Ciara Hanly (Calgary) and Laura MacTaggart (Lacombe, Alta.) drilled six apiece.
 
Setter Alessandra Gentile (Port Moody, B.C) was the key facilitator for the 'Birds,  recording 24 assists in the contest.
 
Brandon used sizzling starts by Shanlee McLellan (7 kills, 2 aces) and Gillian Leech (4 kills, 1 ace) to jump ahead early, but couldn't maintain their momentum. Nikki Majewski (17 assists, 3 aces) did all she could for the Bobcats to keep them in the match.


 
As UBC clawed their way back in the first set their multi faceted attack became undeniable. Gentile, MacTaggart, and Hanly took turns driving kills into the Brandon defence, negating the spectacular first set of Majewski who seemed to be all over the court.  By the time Gentile was at the service line it was 25-25. A kill by Brisebois followed by an attack error from Brandon's Breanne Sytnyk gave UBC the set.
 
The second set started out even, as the two teams traded points and were tied 3-3
 
Then, UBC caught fire. By the time Kaufmanis bounced a kill of a Brandon player into the third row of War Memorial Gym, the 'Birds were out to a 10-5 lead. A kill by Majewski made the score 12-8, but that was as close as the Bobcats got.
 
Consecutive aces from Kaufmanis made the second set score 22-14, before three straight errors by Brandon closed out the second frame in UBC's favour.
 
Brandon kept the third set close initially, but UBC's balanced attack was too much for the Bobcats. MacTaggart and Brisebois made several stellar plays at the net for the 'Birds, as UBC cruised to the 25-14 set win, taking the match 3-0. 
 
Reimer isn't letting the dominant win colour his expectations of tomorrow's contest.
 
"I think the smart thing for us is to prepare like they will bring their best," explained Reimer. "We will prepare like it's going to be hard, as it was in set one, not as it was when we rolled in set two and three."
 
The second game of the series goes tomorrow night with a 7:00 p.m. start time at War Memorial Gym.