VANCOUVER - Led by an all-around stellar effort by
Shanice Marcelle, the UBC Thunderbirds bounced back impressively from a winless opening weekend on Friday night, sweeping the No. 3 Alberta Pandas 3-0 (25-13, 25-20, 25-19) at War Memorial Gym.
The T-Birds cruised for most of the night, jumping out to big early leads in the first and third sets and holding them throughout. The only time they were really threatened by Alberta was in the second set, when the visitors took a 6-1 lead. UBC stormed back quickly though on the strength of nine Marcelle kills in the frame, eventually taking their first lead at 17-16 after a
Lisa Barclay kill.
Mariah Bruinsma racked up two of her match-high three aces late in the set to end any Panda comeback hopes.
"It was a really good team effort, and it's easier when you start well," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer. "You don't even have to look at the stats to know how well Shanice played. It was a tremendous response from last week by the whole team, led by Shanice, and I am very encouraged by that result."
Marcelle finished with a game-high 15 kills on .519 hitting. She committed just one error all night, when her swing on match point went just a few inches long. She would atone for that lone mistake shortly after by getting in on the match-winning block, one of three for her on the night. She also led all players with 14 digs.
Rookie outside hitter
Lisa Barclay also had a big bounce-back night for the T-Birds, finishing just behind Marcelle with 13 kills on .292 hitting. She also had two of UBC's eight aces.
"If she can just keep contributing like that offensively all the other skills will get there," said Reimer. "She is a real weapon when she's on, and I think she will develop into a great player."
Krista Zubick led Alberta with eight kills on the night.
This was the season opener for the Pandas, and they looked very much like a team playing their first real game of the year, finishing with negative hitting percentages in the first and third sets. While the 'Birds posted a team hitting percentage of .259, the Pandas hit .043 as a team for the match.
"That's their first league match so we have to be ready for a much stronger effort from them tomorrow night," said Reimer.
The Pandas and T-Birds will finish their weekend series on Saturday night at War Memorial Gym beginning at 6 p.m.
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