VANCOUVER - The no. 1 ranked UBC Thunderbirds continued their run of perfect play dispatching the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack (0-8) in straight sets for the second consecutive night. It was a dominant performance from the T-Birds Friday evening at War Memorial Gym and they improved their record to 8-0 with sets scores of 25-10, 25-11 and 25-18.
Fifth-year power hitter
Liz Cordonier had another stellar night leading all attackers with 12 kills and four aces. Fourth-year Jin Hinze was strong in the middle racking up eight kills to go along with six blocks.
The T-Birds' depth was once again on display as UBC head coach
Doug Reimer called on his bench to close out each of the first two sets before changing up his starters in the third.
"I was very happy with our performance tonight. We were very good in the first two sets and even with a number of changes we played well in the third," said Reimer. "TRU played well in that third set and we put together a good effort to close out the match."
The first set saw the T-Birds race out to a 9-1 lead with Hinze setting the tone with a huge solo block on the match's second point before Cordonier picked up three straight kills. UBC widened their lead to as much as 13 at 17-4 after back-to-back aces by
Katie Tyzuk and
Kyla Richey then easily closed out the set 25-10.
The home team stuck with the same formula in the second frame getting another big block by Hinze early and Cordonier picking up her sixth kill to put the 'Birds up 8-5 at the first technical time out. Another ace by Richey and back-to-back kills by Hinze stretched the lead to 16-8. The T-Birds closed out the set on a 9-3 run punctuated by two Cordonier aces.
UBC made changes to their line-up in the third frame giving second-years
Danielle Richards, Brina Dersken-Bergen and
Jessica von Schilling some much deserved starting time.
The set was back and forth in the early going with the Thompson Rivers leading at 7-5 but three straight kills by
Rayel Quiring had her side ahead 8-5 at the first break. TRU took the lead back midway through the set but the plucky 'Pack were reeled in thanks to three kills by Richey to maintain UBC's one point lead through the second technical timeout. The T-Birds stretched their lead to four on Cordonier's twelfth kill then the Kitsilano native sent TRU packing with her fourth ace to close out the match.
UBC looks to remain perfect when they host the winless Simon Fraser Clan next Friday, November 27th for their final match of 2009. Game time is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Thompson Rivers meanwhile will take to the road in search of their first win as they visit the Winnipeg Wesmen.
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