VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds finished their weekend of celebration in style, completing a sweep of the Regina Cougars with a 3-0 win on Saturday (25-19, 25-21, 25-17) in front of alumni from the program's nine CIS women's volleyball title-winning teams.
BOX SCORE
The 'Birds move to 9-1 on the year, with just one more series on the road before the semester break. The Cougars fall to 1-9.
Regina surprised the defending champs in the first set Friday, but the T-Birds weren't about to be caught off-guard in round two. UBC hit well above .300 in every set, getting nice contributions from all over the roster on their way to the win.
“You don't really want to come out when you're celebrating championships and stink the joint out,” joked head coach
Doug Reimer after the win. “And there are distractions that go with doing these types of things, on our preparation front and for the players, but all in all we had some great social events and it was great to see people come back.”
A huge blocking effort by
Lisa Barclay and
Jessica von Schilling got UBC in front 8-2 in the first set, and they extended the lead up to 21-10 before the Cougars started to fight back. Regina put together a 7-1 run with a couple Desiree Ates kills and two Michelle Sweeting aces to make it interesting late, but the T-Birds put a stop to any comeback thoughts with Barclay's third block of the set on game point.
The Cougars never went away easy on Saturday, making at least one late surge in all three sets, but the UBC blockers managed to keep them from sustaining any momentum.
Desiree Ates led the Cougars with 12 kills and three blocks.
After having one of her roughest sets of the season to kick off Friday's action,
Shanice Marcelle came out in top form Saturday, putting five kills down on 10 attacks and adding three blocks in the first set. Marcelle finished tied for the team lead with 11 kills on the night, but it wasn't just the usual suspects who were shining bright on Saturday.
Alissa Coulter had perhaps her best game as a T-Bird, also firing off 11 kills on .500 hitting. She displayed some nice serve receive skills too and led the team with eight digs.
“She found a way to get some good kills, and that can help so much in the offence,” Reimer said of his second-year outside hitter. “Obviously teams are keying on Shancie and Lisa, so to have some balance from the other attacking position puts a lot of pressure on the other team's block and defence, and I thought she passed the ball pretty well and served well.”
Middle blocker Abigail Keeping had a big game on both sides of the ball, earning six kills on 12 attacks and serving four aces while adding a game-high five blocks.
A couple T-Birds also made their CIS debuts against the Cougars. Setter
Alana Hansen recorded two assists and a dig in her brief appearance, and rookie outside hitter
Juliana Kaufmanis came up with a block on her first play as a T-Bird before picking up a kill shortly after.
“She can probably play any front row position. She's very versatile and I think she's been very patient with us as we work to see where she's going to fit in and help us the most,” Reimer said of Kaufmanis. “For a taller player that jumps well she handles the ball in serve-receive really well.”
Rookie
Danielle Brisebois also saw some court time this weekend, though she debuted earlier this season.
The T-Birds now hit the road to finish their first-half schedule in Manitoba. Conference action resumes on January 11, when the 'Birds will be home to start a series with Winnipeg.
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