EDMONTON - For the third straight season, the UBC Thunderbirds are the best team in CIS women's volleyball.
On Sunday night at the University of Alberta's Main Gym, the T-Birds completed a perfect season with a 3-1 (25-19, 19-25, 25-16, 25-22) victory over the Manitoba Bisons in the CIS Championship final.
The win capped off one of the greatest seasons in CIS women's volleyball history as the T-Birds went a perfect 25-0 as the no. 1 ranked team the entire campaign and extended their CIS winning streak to 40 games dating back to midway through last season.
"The play of our power hitters was outstanding. That was the best one-two punch we have had all weekend," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer about fifth-year
Liz Cordonier and second-year
Shanice Marcelle.
It was that mixture of youth and veterans that propelled the T-Birds to the three-peat, as UBC had four players hit double digits in kills as they racked up 61.
While both teams had similar success on defence, UBC edged Manitona 9-7 in blocks and 43-41 in digs, it was UBC's offence that made the difference tonight.
Cordonier, who was named the CIS Championship MVP, had a stellar finish to her CIS career, notching 13 kills and 10 digs to lead a UBC offensive effort that the Bisons could just not match.
"This year was the best thing ever. It's exactly how you want to go out in your fifth year. I love this team and they are going to be champions for years to come," said an ecstatic Cordonier.
Marcelle earned Championship Final player of the match honours with 15 kills (.464 hitting), a game-high 11 digs and a pair of services aces.
The T-Birds got equally huge performances from middle
Jen Hinze who added 11 kills, five digs, and four blocks and right side
Kyla Richey who earned 14 kills and two blocks.
Fifth-year setter
Katie Tyzuk, who directed UBC with a match-high 49 set assists, and senior Libero
Claire Hanna were also equally key to UBC's performance as they stepped up with strong performances in the final CIS match of their careers.
"I thought the ability of both Claire and Katie to recover after some errors early was really big. Claire had one little blip in the second set but she really anchored our defensive effort all night. Katie really came on in the third and fourth sets after struggling a bit early on due to some over try," noted Reimer.
It was an up and down, evenly played re-match of last weekend's Canada West Championship between the top two teams in the nation.
The fourth set was the closest of all, as the two sides battled for each point. Manitoba carved out a small 12-10 advantage before Marcelle took over with three kills over the next five points to draw the two sides level before a Hinze kill and block put UBC ahead 16-13.
A Marcelle ace put UBC ahead 19-16 and then a huge Cordonier kill made it 20-16 for the 'Birds. Manitoba drew within two points but couldn't stave off the T-Birds third straight national win.
If the fourth set was evenly matched affair, each of the first three sets were relatively one-sided.
The T-Birds and Bisons both started in sync, trading side outs early on. UBC built a small 11-9 lead and then went on a 5-0 run fueled by Marcelle who tallied a pair of kills while getting a number of solid blocks. The T-Birds then used a 3-0 run, capped off by a Marcelle ace, to go ahead 20-12 before easing their way to the set win.
It was a reversal of fortunes in the second frame with the Bisons using a number of small runs to gain a 16-10 advantage at the second technical timeout. The 'Birds rallied a pair of times, bringing the score to 17-13 and then 20-18, however, an ace from all-star Tricia Mayba restored a four-point margin for the Bisons who closed the set on a three-point run.
A slow start to the third set saw UBC down 10-8, however, the defending champs used a massive 7-0 run to take a commanding 15-10 lead. Also during that the T-Bird offensive, talented Manitoba libero Nicole Hall had to leave the game with a knee injury. UBC kept the pressure on and ended the set on a 10-4 run.
Championship all-star Ashley Voth led Manitoba with 13 kills but had no teammate crack double figures as the Bisons couldn't find a consistent secondary option on attack.
The two teams had met three previous times at the CIS Championship, but never in the final, with the Bisons owning a 2-1 series lead before tonight's gold medal game. Manitoba beat UBC 3-2 in the 2002 CIS semi-finals and 3-0 in the 2001 quarters. The T-Birds last beat Manitoba in 1996, defeating the Bisons 3-1 in the quarterfinals.
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