VANCOUVER - It took them 10 hard-fought sets, but the Alberta Pandas emerged from the Canada West Final Four as conference champions on Saturday, downing the host UBC Thunderbirds in the gold medal match 3-2 (18-25, 25-21, 25-22, 20-25, 15-13) at War Memorial Gym.
The T-Birds held an 8-5 lead at the technical timeout in the fifth set, but the break seemed to energize the Pandas, who had to be feeling the effects of playing 10 sets against elite competition in the past two days. They came out of the timeout on fire, rattling off a 5-0 run that included four straight blocks to take the lead.
UBC managed to pull even at 11, but another block gave the lead back to Alberta, and then Jaki Ellis put down her eighth ace of the night to make it 13-11. The 'Birds battled back to within a point, down 14-13, but Alena Omelchenko managed to force the golden kill through the T-Bird block on match point.
"We found out that good things happen if you just don't stop playing," said Alberta head coach Laurie Eisler. "It was about just staying in the battle and giving ourselves a chance, and I'm really proud of the team for their resilience and that stick with it quality under pressure which we will carry forward to nationals."
UBC and bronze medalists Trinity Western will also go to nationals with Alberta.
"Full marks to Alberta. Two games in a row they came to play and battled back when they had to," said UBC coach
Doug Reimer. "They got us out of rhythm a couple times and as a group they played really well. But having said that I was really impressed with our battle and fight. We didn't come out on top of it though and have to make a couple adjustments for next week."
Much of the game was decided at the service line, as the teams combined for 27 aces in the match.
Ellis led all players with eight aces on the night. Alberta did have 20 service errors to go with their 14 aces, but Eisler said that aggressiveness at the line was key to the Pandas win.
"UBC has so much offensive talent that if you don't get them out of system it's really hard to match up against them so we knew we had to be aggressive with our serve, and I think Jaki really set the tone for the team."
Reimer agreed that the Pandas' strategy at the service line paid off on Saturday.
"They ended up making a lot of errors but they earned a lot too and it turned their way in the second set. We weren't quite prepared for that, and that's probably the adjustment we have to make - being able to handle being out of system a little better."
The T-Birds had 13 aces to nine service errors, led by
Shanice Marcelle who had seven aces and just a single error. She had a great all-around performance with nine kills, 15 digs and four blocks as well.
"I think she's enjoying playing hard and competing hard, and it was fun to watch," Reimer said of his former CIS MVP.
The current conference MVP,
Kyla Richey, had a more difficult night. She led the 'Birds with 10 kills but the Pandas were keying in on her all night, and she wound up with a negative hitting percentage for the match. She still made big contributions to the 'Birds defensively and wound up with three blocks and 11 digs.
Omelchenko led all players with 13 kills. Ellis had eight to go with her 27 assists, and Caitlin Buckell also had eight on .667 hitting.
Alberta's win marks an end to UBC's three-year run as Canada West champions. It's Alberta's first Canada West gold medal finish since 2008.
The T-Birds still have their four-year streak as national champions to worry about though, and they will be looking to make it five in a row next week at McMaster University. Alberta, UBC and Trinity Western will all be in Hamilton, Ontario from March 2 to 4 in search of CIS gold.
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