VANCOUVER - Despite a late push by the visitors in the third set, the UBC Thunderbirds held on for another three-set win (25-19, 25-14, 25-23) against the Brandon Bobcats on Saturday at War Memorial Gym to sweep the weekend series.
After two relatively easy set wins for the 'Birds, the sixth-ranked Bobcats took a stand in the third. They led for most of the set thanks to four kills each from Jaryn Ruether and Meaghan Robertson, but UBC's big guns managed to turn the tide.
A
Kyla Richey kill tied it up at 17 and then
Shanice Marcelle gave the 'Birds their first lead of the set on the next point. The UBC block took over from there, as
Jessica von Schilling and Rayel Quirring teamed up to shut down three Bobcat attacks the rest of the way to lock up the match for the 'Birds.
"Hanging in there in that tougher third set was a real positive," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer. "Weathering the storm is a good way to look at it because you could see Brandon rise up when they knew they had a chance, and they are an experienced team and hard to take advantage of."
The UBC block was a big factor all night and indeed all weekend, as the Bobcat offence was never able to find its rhythm. The 'Birds oublocked Brandon 10-4 on Saturday, with Quirring and von Schilling each picking up seven block assists to lead the way. The dominance of the T-Birds at the net translated to offence as well, as von Schilling had seven kills on just 12 attacks while
Jen Hinze picked up nine kills on 15 attacks.
"One of the keys was our blocking against their left side hitters all weekend was good, and Jess was obviously a big part of that," said Reimer. "And to have our middles go through 27 swings with no hitting errors was great."
Brandon was held under .100 hitting as a team, while the T-Birds' balanced attack cracked the .300 barrier. Marcelle led the team with 14 kills, while Richey tied Hinze with nine. Setter
Brina Derksen-Bergen picked up 42 assists.
Robertson, Teagan Hunter and Jaryn Ruether all had seven kills for Brandon, and Hunter was also a terror serving the ball with five aces in the match.
The T-Birds improve to 11-3 with the win, and will now enjoy a weekend off before hosting Regina on February 4 and 5. The Bobcats fall to 7-5 and will look forward to a key matchup against the same Regina team next weekend on the road.
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