EDMONTON - On a night when their vaunted attack wasn't finding as much success as usual, the top-seeded UBC Thunderbirds relied on their outstanding block and solid team defence to overwhelm the Laval Rouge et Or in their CIS semi-final 3-0 (35-19, 25-22, 25-17) at the University of Alberta's West Gym.
The two-time defending CIS Champions will try and protect their position at the top of the volleyball pyramid in tomorrow night's championship game (5:00 p.m. PST) against a familiar foe. The T-Birds will battle Canada West rivals Manitoba Bisons in the CIS final, a re-match of the Canada West Championship game which UBC won 3-2 last weekend.
"It was a big exhale tonight. Laval brings a feistiness and competitiveness to every single point. We made some uncharacteristic errors for our team but some of that was due to Laval and what they were able to do," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer.
After opening the semi-final showdown with a relatively comfortable 25-19 first set result, the T-Birds looked to be well on their way to a similar result in the second leading 14-8.
However, the Rouge et Or came out of a timeout with a renewed sense of purpose and an 11-4 run gave them their first lead of the match at 19-18.
It was at this point that Reimer went to his bench bringing in second-year setter
Brina Derksen-Bergen and senior outside
Lauren Whitehead. The double sub paid off as UBC responded with a 7-3 run of their own to close out the second set.
Reimer again went to the bench in the third, bringing in third-year
Rayel Quiring with the set tied 13-13. The Langley, BC native paid instant dividends picking up a key kill and block to propel UBC's game clinching 9-1 run that ended the contest.
"I was telling our team, we have to do what we do. One of things we do is bring good depth. We also trust our block and the team defence we have around it," noted Reimer while commenting on the T-Birds struggles to pick-up easy kills against a tenacious Laval squad.
Eve Trepanier led the Rouge et Or with 13 kills, however she also tallied seven errors, as UBC held their opponents to only 30 kills on 110 attacks while forcing 28 errors (.018 hitting). Laval standout Melanie Savoie had a tough evening, notching five kills and nine errors on 30 attacks (-.133 hitting). The T-Birds out blocked Laval 7-4.
Liz Cordonier, the CIS Player of the Year, led UBC with 10 kills and chipped in with eight digs. Middle
Jen Hinze tallied nine kills and two solo blocks to key the T-Birds' effort at the net alongside
Kyla Richey, UBC's player of the match, who had seven kills, 11 digs, and a pair of blocks.
Reimer believes that the T-Birds, who will searching to become the first school to win three CIS titles in a row since Alberta did in 1997 (en route to six straight from 1995-2000), are in good position heading into tomorrow's national final against a Canada West foe.
"We should be confident to just bring our game tomorrow. We also have to recognize, however, that it is just one game and anything can happen," said Reimer. "From the very first meeting this year, we have said we have to respect our opponents and ourselves and that doesn't change. We are going to have to earn everything we get against either of those teams."
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