The UBC Thunderbirds didn't disappoint their fans who came to celebrate their 2009 CIS championship banner-raising on Friday night at War Memorial Gym, as they began the new campaign with a 3-0 win (25-20, 25-10, 25-15) over the Winnipeg Wesmen.
After UBC led by as many as eight points late in the first set, Winnipeg rallied to pull to within four before a big kill from
Kyla Richey won the set 25-20 for the 'Birds.
Aside from an early lead in the third set, the Wesmen weren't able to challenge the two-time defending national champions the rest of the way.
The T-Birds out-hit Winnipeg .410 to .033 as a team but UBC head coach
Doug Reimer thought the match was closer than the scoreline indicated.
"The score was not reflective of how Winnipeg played," said Reimer. "It was only a few big runs that made it one-sided and I think they will be disappointed that it wasn't closer. But I have to give our girls credit for staying patient."
The second set was all T-Birds from start to finish.
Rayel Quiring led the 'Birds on an early 11-0 run to spot them a big lead and
Shanice Marcelle capped off the frame with an ace on set-point.
The 'Birds sputtered out of the gate in the third set, falling behind by three points heading into the first timeout. That was about as good as things got for Winnipeg though, as a 7-2 run out of the timeout put UBC back in the driver's seat and the 'Birds finished the set on an 11-2 run.
Quiring finished with a game-high 13 kills and a .522 hitting percentage.
"What impressed me most about Rayel today was how efficient she was," said Reimer. "She didn't make many errors and she hit a lot of different types of shots."
Liz Cordonier had a solid night for UBC as well, racking up 10 kills on .444 hitting. She also had two aces and a game-high 10 digs. Setter
Katie Tyzuk had 31 assists in the win.
Carleen Kruschel led Winnipeg with six kills, while chipping in five digs. Lauren Sears had five kills to go along with two blocks.
The same two squads will be back at War Memorial Gym on Saturday night to wrap up the series. Game two begins at 6:00 p.m.
