WINNIPEG - Their stat lines won't jump off the page but the play of first years Kristy Setterlund and
Rosie Schlagintweit made a big impact as the no. 6 UBC Thunderbirds swept the no. 1 Manitoba Bisons with a 3-1 victory (25-20, 25-20, 21-25, 25-9) on Saturday night. UBC was victorious 3-0 on Friday.
Setterlund, a setter, and Schlagintweit, a right side, hit the court down the stretch in both sets one and two as a double substitution, changing up the pace of the UBC attack and helping the T-Birds seal wins in each frame.
"We had a number of good contributions tonight. I was especially pleased with how Kristy and Rosie were able to come off the bench and contribute in key points for us," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer.
Schlagintweit tallied four kills, and no errors, on nine attacks and Setterlund was steady offensively while also a menace at the service line.
Although that duo played a big role in closing out the first two sets, the offence of
Shanice Marcelle was another major reason why UBC was able to go into Winnipeg and sweep the no. 1 ranked team in the nation.
Marcelle, a third year T-Bird who plays for the Team Canada beach squad over the summer, showed off her complete arsenal on Saturday tallying 24 kills on .561 hitting by effectively mixing her power and finesse all match long.
"Shanice was really outstanding tonight," said Reimer. "She worked hard over the summer on the beach and it maybe took her a little bit of time to get back into the swing here but she's definitely been a big key for us."
The T-Birds also got solid offensive performances out of rookie
Lisa Barclay who had 12 kills and right side
Rayel Quiring earned 11. As a team, UBC hit for an impressive .381.
Manitoba was just not able to match the T-Birds, except in the third set, as UBC's serving put the Bisons on their back heel most of the game. Despite their difficulties in serve receive, Manitoba still hit a respectable .240. Kate Wasyliw paced the Bisons with 16 kills.
After jumping out to leads in the first two sets, UBC found themselves down early in the third. They battled back to lead 8-7 at the first technical timeout, however, Manitoba responded with their most spirited play of the weekend to take control of the set. It wasn't all for naught, however, as UBC made it interesting late in the frame before carrying over that play to the fourth.
UBC led from start to finish in that fourth set, as they jumped out to a big lead and never allowed Manitoba a chance to build off their performance in the third.
"The third set, Manitoba played very well. Our serving maybe wasn't as solid but we competed well late in the third and set a good tone heading back into the fourth," added Reimer. "Overall, I was very impressed with how steady we were all weekend."
UBC returns home next weekend to take on the Saskatchewan Huskies in their final weekend of Canada West action before the winter break.
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