VANCOUVER - The top-ranked UBC Thunderbirds overcame some first set troubles to sweep the Calgary Dinos 3-0 (29-27, 25-21, 25-16) on Friday night at War Memorial Gym, improving to 14-0 on the year.
The T-Birds began to settle down as the match went on, eventually cruising through the third set with relative ease, but the eighth-ranked Dinos surprised them out of the gate. The first set appeared to be wrapped up for UBC as they led 24-19, but five chances on game-point weren't enough. Some feisty play by the Dinos and mistakes by the home side led to Calgary battling back to tie the set at 25, and eventually take a 27-26 lead. The Dinos couldn't keep it together though, and three straight Calgary errors gave the set to UBC.
"We were feeling pretty good coming back home after getting a couple tough weeks on the road under our belt. Our competitive level was good, but then when things aren't flowing right away it can be tough," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer. "Still, it's nice when you get through it and gain that experience."
The 'Birds struggled in the second set as well, falling behind 5-0 and prompting Reimer to burn an early timeout. An 8-2 run out of the timeout saw them regain the lead though, and their strong defence kept Calgary at bay for the remainder of the set.
The third set had the T-Birds looking more like the undefeated defending champions that they are. The Dinos couldn't muster any sort of effective attack, as they wound up with a -.059 hitting percentage in the frame. Calgary's offence struggled for much of the night, and all three sets ended in Dino errors.
"We were just a bit sloppy tonight and didn't really get on track consistently until the third set," said Reimer. "I liked the way we came back in the third. It wasn't flawless, but that was more like it."
Liz Cordonier ended up leading the offence with nine kills, despite having some error issues.
Kyla Richey had a strong showing with eight kills and a .471 hitting percentage. She also had four block-assists and five digs.
Raynell Lavertu led Calgary with eight kills and 10 digs on the night.
At 14-0, the T-Birds have officially clinched a Canada West playoff spot. Meanwhile, the Dinos are just holding on to the seventh and final spot at 6-7, just a half-game up on Winnipeg in the standings.
Calgary and UBC will wrap up their weekend series on Saturday night at War Memorial Gym. The action starts at 6 p.m.
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