VANCOUVER - With three spots in the CIS tournament up for grabs, the top four women's volleyball teams in Canada West will gather this weekend at UBC to determine a conference champion. The Canada West Final Four begins with the No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds against the Trinity Western Spartans on Friday night at 6:15 p.m. followed by the Alberta Pandas vs the Winnipeg Wesmen at 8 p.m.
All games will be broadcast with live statistics at
CanadaWest TV.
GAME TIMES (all games at War Memorial Gymnasium)
Fri., February 24
GAME 1 - 6:15 p.m. - No. 1 seed UBC vs. No. 4 Trinity Western
GAME 2 - 8:00 p.m. - No. 2 Alberta vs. No. 3 Winnipeg
Sat., February 25
6:15 pm -
Bronze - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
8:00 pm -
Gold - Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
UBC Thunderbirds
2011-12 conference record: 18-2 (1st)
Last Week: Bye
Streak: 1 win
The T-Birds will be looking for their fourth straight Canada West title and, more importantly, a spot in the CIS tournament for their fourth straight national title defence. Teams don't come much more experienced than this, and as good as UBC has been in recent years, in some ways the 2012 T-Birds are
Doug Reimer's best squad yet.
For example, this year's 'Birds have a better opponent hitting percentage, more blocks and more aces per set than even the undefeated UBC team of 2010. In 2010, middle
Jessica von Schilling finished second in the conference in blocks and was the only UBC middle averaging more than one per game. This year she is again among league leaders along with fellow middles Abi Keeping and
Mariah Bruinsma, who all average more than a block per game.
Setter
Brina Derksen-Bergen even moonlights as a top 10 conference blocker, averaging 0.97 per game in the regular season. She's not bad at her day job either, finishing second in Canada West averaging 9.48 assists.
Offensively,
Kyla Richey,
Shanice Marcelle and
Lisa Barclay are the stars of the show. Richey won the Canada West kills race with 3.54 per game this season, while Barclay added 2.74 and Marcelle chipped in 2.27. All three are solid all-around players capable of helping out on the block or racking up the digs as well.
Alberta Pandas
2011-12 conference record: 14-6 (2nd)
Last Week: W 3-0, W 3-0 vs Thompson Rivers
Streak: 3 wins
The Pandas blew past Thompson Rivers in the Canada West quarterfinals last week, winning five of the six sets by at least nine points. Caitlin Buckell had a huge series with four solo blocks, and the offence was well balanced between five players.
One of those players was setter Jaki Ellis, who proved she can put the ball down just as well as she can set it up. She had five kills in game one and nine in game two on just 12 attacks. Ellis will get involved in the attack often, averaging just under two kills per game along with her 7.07 assists. Alyssa Jones, who takes over setter duties at times for the Pandas, averaged 1.88 kills and 3.19 assists this season.
Alena Omelchenko is their primary offensive weapon. She averaged 3.21 kills in the regular season, and is a very dangerous server. The Pandas were the top team in the league for service aces, with Omelchenko, Ellis and Jones all finishing in the top 10. Krista Zubick is the only other Panda averaging more than two kills per game.
Winnipeg Wesmen
2011-12 conference record: 14-6, 3rd in Canada West
Last Week: W 3-2, W 3-0 vs Manitoba
Streak: 4 wins
Winnipeg had arguably the toughest quarterfinal series of any Final Four team, considering their opponents, Manitoba, had been ranked as high as No. 2 in the CIS this season before trailing off later in the year, and because a series in Winnipeg is hardly a road series for Manitoba.
Game one was super tight, with two sets going past 25 points and three being decided by just two points, but the Bisons seemed to have run out of gas in game two, giving the Wesmen a relatively easy 3-0 win to take the series.
Senior middle Lauren Sears had a ridiculous series, racking up 19 kills in game one on .375 hitting to go with five solo blocks. Her encore was 14 more kills in game two on .542 hitting and two more solo blocks. She was no slouch in the regular season either, averaging three kills on .277 hitting, but she seems to be heating up even more at the perfect time. She also finished atop the conference leaderboard in aces, averaging 0.55 per set, and averages just under a block per game.
Setter Brittany Habing led the conference with 9.49 assists per game. While she certianly looks up the middle frequently in this offence, rookie outside hitter Ozana Nikolic leads the team with 3.15 kills. Carleen Kruschel averages 2.51 kills from the outside also.
Trinity Western Spartans
2011-12 conference record: 13-7, 4th in Canada West
Last Week: W 3-1, W 3-0 vs Calgary
Streak: 2 wins
The Spartans were outhit and outblocked by Calgary in a tight game one but managed to make plays when it counted to scoop up the win, and then came back with a much more complete effort in game two, holding the Dinos under .100 hitting as a team on their way to the sweep.
Trinity Western was second only to UBC in opponent hitting percentage this season at .134, so expect more tough defence out of them this weekend. Alicia Perrin and Nicole Bazin are both tough blockers, and Perrin has major offensive upside as well, averaging 2.38 kills on .333 hitting this year.
Second-year left side hitter Royal Richardson leads the offence with 3.14 kills and Amy Leschied is the second option on the outside with 2.85 kills. Chelsea Hudson is the team's primary setter, averaging more than eight assists per game, but outside hitter Kelci French will take some sets as well for the Spartans. She averages almost two assists per game along with solid contributions both on attack and in the block.
The Spartans also have the most recent success of any CIS team against UBC, beating the 'Birds twice in the regular season last year before falling to them in the Canada West gold medal game. They also were responsible for one of UBC's two losses this season, so they should'nt be taken lightly as the fourth seed this weekend.
Tickets are available at the box office starting one hour before the game.
Individual Game Tickets (2012 Playoffs)
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Adults $15
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Youth, Seniors, UBC Faculty/Staff & Visiting Students $5
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UBC Students & U.N.A. $2*
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Kids 6 and under FREE
*NEW - Family Pass: $20. Includes admission for a family of up to 5. (max 2 adults).
Group Sales
For group rates please call 604-822-3094 or email
tickets@gothunderbirds.ca.
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