VANCOUVER - The two-time defending CIS champion UBC Thunderbirds grabbed their second straight Canada West title after a perfect 22-0 conference season, and now have their sights set on another national championship this weekend in Alberta.
The T-Birds had only lost nine sets in their 20 regular season games, but the Manitoba Bisons gave them a scare in the Canada West title game, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to tie the match at two and force a fifth set. Canada West MVP
Liz Cordonier wasn't about to let her squad's bid for perfection end though, as she led the 'Birds to victory with a game-high 16 kills and a 15-8 decision in the final set.
Cordonier was one of many T-Birds to be honored with a Canada West award this season, which is unsurprising considering how dominant the team has been. Her 3.37 kills, 2.46 digs, and 0.36 service aces-per-game earned her the MVP award and made her one of three T-Birds to get first-team all-star nominations. This is the third year in a row Cordonier has been a Canada West all-star, and the third time in five years a T-Bird has been named Canada West MVP. Carla Bradstock won the award in 2008, and Emily Cordonier, Liz's sister, was the MVP in 2006.
Jen Hinze and
Kyla Richey were the other two All-Stars this year, while
Claire Hanna took home Libero of the Year honours.
Hinze ran away with the conference hitting percentage title, posting a .395 mark for the year, with the next-closest hitter clocking in at .319. She was also tied for sixth in the conference with 1.07 blocks-per-game, playing a big role in UBC's CIS-best blocking effort this year.
Richey is another key component of the UBC block. She shares sixth spot in the conference blocking leaderboard with Hinze, averaging 1.07 per-game. She also contributes a lot to the attack, as she is second on the team with 2.54 kills-per-game and was among the conference leaders in service aces with 0.40 per game.
Hanna won the Libero of the Year award for the second season in a row, as she led the conference's best defence with 3.05 digs-per-game. As a team, the T-Birds led Canada West with a .110 opponent hitting percentage.
Not to be overlooked is bench boss
Doug Reimer, who won the Canada West Coach of the Year award. It would have been hard to look past his credentials for the award this season based on UBC's outstanding play during the regular season. Besides their perfect record, the T-Birds also led the conference in most major statistical categories, including hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, assists, kills and blocks, and they were second in service aces.
A lot of the T-Birds' incredible success this year can also be attributed to their depth. The 'Birds have several players who can make big contributions in all facets of the game, which made them a tough side to shut down.
Four players averaged at least 2.30 kills-per-game, and seven averaged at least 1.15.
Shanice Marcelle was third on the team in kills, sandwiched in between all-stars Richey and Hinze, with 2.52 per-game in just her second year of CIS action.
Jessica von Schilling, Rayel Quirring and Nicky Osbourne all average at least one kill-per-game.
Setter
Katie Tyzuk should get some of the credit for making the UBC attack so well-balanced. She finished second in Canada West with 9.94 assists-per-game and the fifth-year directed a potent UBC attack that averaged 13.48 kills-per-set while hitting .275 as a team.
When it comes to blocking, the three-headed monster of Richey, Hinze and von Schilling produces 3.35 blocks-per-game. Von Schilling, a red-shirt freshman, leads the trio with 1.21 blocks-per-game, which put her second in conference action. The first-year showed she could also dominate the net in the playoffs, tallying an one solo block and nine block assists in the CW Championship game.
As defending champions coming off an undefeated conference season, the T-Birds are unsurprisingly the top seed heading into Alberta this weekend. The second seed will be the QSSF champion Montreal Carabins, who are also coming off an undefeated season and will be hungry for revenge, having lost in the CIS gold medal game two years ago to the T-Birds in five sets and the CIS semi-finals last year to Calgary.
The third seed goes to Manitoba, who will also be gunning hard for the T-Birds after coming up short in the conference finals.
The Canada West bronze medalist Regina Cougars will be fourth, and the host Alberta Pandas get the seventh seed to round out the Canada West participants. Laval has the fifth seed as QSSF silver medalists, while Tornoto takes sixth and Saint Mary's takes eight, as champions of the OUA and AUS respectively.
This is the first time since 2006 that the T-Birds have had the top seed heading into nationals which may add some pressure when they take the court in Alberta. In 2006, the 'Birds lost to Laval in the title game, but this year's edition of the team should be used to having a target on their backs after surviving the conference season with their perfect record intact.
The T-Birds begin their title defence against the surprising St. Mary's Huskies. UBC will have to contend with either Regina, a team they beat 3-1 in the CW semi-final this year, or Laval, a team they beat 3-0 in last year's CIS semi-final, should they advance to the 2010 CIS semi-finals.
The T-Birds begin their title defence on Friday at noon pacific time.
