VANCOUVER - The newly minted no. 1 UBC Thunderbirds (6-2) look to continue their winning way this weekend when they close out the first half of their regular season by hosting the Saskatchewan Huskies (1-5).
First serve is set for 1:00 p.m. on Friday and 6:00 p.m. on Saturday at War Memorial Gym.
LIVE STATS
WEBCAST
A look at the Thunderbirds
Fresh off a sweep (3-0, 3-1) over the then no. 1 ranked Manitoba Bisons on the road, UBC now finds themselves as the top ranked team in the nation. The 'Birds came into the season on a 40-game unbeaten streak but dropped a pair of games to no. 2 Trinity Western to open the season. Since then they have won six straight even without the services of All-Canadians
Jen Hinze and
Kyla Richey. That duo suited up for Team Canada this fall and will be in the T-Bird line-up come January.
Despite those notable absences, the T-Birds have barely missed a beat as three-time defending national champions. Third-year
Shanice Marcelle is a big reason for UBC's success so far this year, as she ranks first in the conference in kills (4.20) and points (4.93) per set and is eighth in both hitting percentage (.282) and digs (3.13).
Fellow junior
Brina Derksen-Bergen has come into her own as the team's setter after serving as an understudy the last two seasons. She sits second in the conference with 10.07 assists per set. Freshman
Lisa Barclay has proved as good as advertised and ranks fifth in the league in kills (3.24) while second-year Jessica Von Schilling continues to be a force at the net, and is tied for second in league blocking (1.27).
A look at the Huskies
In the ultra-competitive Canada West, breaking into the playoff group is a daunting task. The Huskies are fighting that battle but to date only sport a 1-5 record for their efforts.
That record, however, is not due to lack of production from their top attackers. Candace Hueser sits third in the league in kills (3.67) while Katie Graves is sixth (3.19). Saskatchewan's difficulty on offence has been consistency, however, as they are only hitting .088 as a team and have only one player, Quinn Schulzke, hitting better than .170 this year.
Defensively, libero Haley Manson tops the league with 4.33 digs per set and she is helped admirably by Graves who ranks second with 4.05. Their blocking, however, hasn't been as strong as they rank eighth in the league at 1.71 blocks per set.
-30-
