VANCOUVER - The Trinity Western Spartans spoiled UBC's home opener and 2010 CIS championship banner raising on Friday night, downing the Thunderbirds 3-1 (25-18, 25-22, 22-25, 25-14) at War Memorial Gym to end their 40-match win streak that stretched back to the 2009 season.
It was a shaky night for both teams on offence, as the Spartans' .353 hitting percentage in the first set was the only time either side broke the .200 mark in a set all match. Kara JansenVanDoorn paced the Spartans attack with eight first-set kills, and she finished the night with a game-high 15 on .245 hitting, adding three aces.
The T-Birds hit .167 in the first set, and although their defence got better at holding the Spartans in check as the night went on, their offence never found its rhythm. The 'Birds hit .068 as a team and had 32 errors in the match.
"We're not satisfied with our performance here," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer. "I dont think either team played as well as they did at times in preseason. The volume of unforced errors was too high to be successful and consistency of play was a problem in a number of areas."
The Spartans won the battle at the net with 13 blocks to UBC's six. Amy Leschied and Alicia Perrin led the way with seven block-assists each, but Reimer said his side's own errors had much more to do with the loss than the Spartans' blocking effort.
"The bottom line is you cant hit .068 and be successful, so we will be working on that," Reimer said.
The T-Birds outhit the Spartans in the second set .074 to .037, but a late 5-0 Trinity Western run allowed the visitors to pull away and take a 2-0 lead.
The 'Birds posted a 5-0 run of their own early in the third set, highlighted by four
Shanice Marcelle kills, and they held the lead throughout to force a fourth. But 13 UBC errors in the fourth set had the Spartans well out in front for the duration, and it was JansenVanDoorn who fittingly capped off the night and her strong personal performance with an ace on match point.
"I think it was just the first league game for a lot of our players and they didn't have much time together as a unit, having to go through so many changes," said Reimer, referring to his squad being without All-Canadians
Jen Hinze and
Kyla Richey while they compete with Canada at the FIVB World Championships.
Marcelle led the T-Birds with 14 kills and 17 digs. Rookie
Lisa Barclay chipped in 11 kills on .250 hitting in her CIS debut.
The 'Birds will be looking for a weekend split tomorrow when they get another shot at the Spartans. The two sides will be back at War Memorial Gym on Saturday, with the action beginning at 6 p.m.
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