VANCOUVER - The No. 5 Manitoba Bisons were much tougher out of the gate on Saturday compared to their first tilt with No. 1 UBC on Friday, but the Thunderbirds weathered the storm and still wound up with some convincing set wins en route to a 3-1 victory (28-26, 19-25, 25-14, 25-18) at War Memorial Gym.
UBC held a lead for most of the first set, until a run of Manitoba blocks brought the Bisons level with the 'Birds at 22. But
Kyla Richey took over for UBC, earning five of their next six points with three blocks and two kills, including a block on set point.
The second set was all Bisons though, as they jumped out to a large lead thanks to a monster blocking effort of their own, and were able to hold on to it. The win came at a price though, as star middle Tricia Mayba went down at the end of the set with a leg injury which sidelined her for the entire third set and part of the fourth.
"I think Manitoba played real tough throughout," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer. "Kristi Hunter did a really good job for them and their libero dug a lot of balls, so they played us tough and there were lots of little things we weren't executing on at times. Our blocking was not as good as it should have been against some of their primary hitters early on, but pleased how we rebounded and were able to use different lineups."
Hunter had six kills and nine blocks through just the first two sets, and went on to finish with a team-high 13 kills.
The momentum of the match shifted in a big way though once Mayba went down, as the T-Birds took the third set with ease, propelled by nine more Richey kills and some great passing from libero
Briana Liau Kent, who ended up with 20 digs in the match.
Mayba did come back for parts of the fourth set but it didn't slow down the T-Birds. Setter
Brina Derksen-Bergen was on a roll, dishing out 14 of her 48 assists in the fourth, and
Lisa Barclay had five kills in the frame to finish with 14 on .314 hitting, bested only by Richey's 20 kills.
Mariah Bruinsma also played a big role in the fourth set, stepping into the middle to give
Jessica von Schilling a rest and earning three kills on four attacks in the frame along with two blocks and an ace on match point.
"We got a lot of good contributions tonight," said Reimer. "The obvious ones are the volume of kills from Kyla and Lisa, and it's really important to get that for a team to have success, but in addition to that I thought almost across the board we were good today. Rayel (Quirring) was steady, I thought BLK (Liau Kent) did a really good job, Mariah came in and did a very nice job, so we got lots of contributions from different people for sure."
Now 13-1 on the year, the T-Birds have clinched a playoff spot and will have their sights set on wrapping up top spot as they finish the regular season with some key games against other major contenders, including second place Winnipeg, who they take on next week on the road.
"Those last two sets today we were siding out at 78 and 73 percent against a good defensive team, so that's definitely on the right track. There were lots of things to be pleased about from this weekend and for us to build on for our tough games coming up," Reimer said.
The Bisons fall to 9-5 on the year and will return home next week to host Trinity Western.
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