VANCOUVER - The No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds made short work of an undermanned Brandon Bobcats squad on Saturday night, completing the weekend sweep with another 3-0 win (25-11, 25-16, 25-13) at War Memorial Gym.
The T-Birds looked every bit like four-time defending champions against Brandon this weekend, playing solid team defence from wire to wire and getting great performances from players all over the roster.
On Saturday they held the Bobcats to negative hitting percentages in every set and used some huge runs to build big leads, allowing plenty of playing time for the backups.
"Brandon was suffering from some injury and illness so that took a couple of their players out, but I thought we were pretty good and that helps build confidence for next week against Trinity and moving forward," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer. "Things happen, whether it's injuries or other things, so it's important to have everyone out there playing a few points because it just builds a routine, and it just shows we have a lot of players who can play which helps our continuity this year and in the future."
For the second night in a row, 10 different T-Birds recorded kills and the entire active roster got at least some court action.
Two of those big scoring runs came courtesy of
Shanice Marcelle's brilliant serving. In addition to her three aces, Marcelle was on the service line for runs of 7-0 and 10-0 in the second and third sets to help UBC put the match out of reach.
With home court advantage locked up through the Canada West Final Four, Reimer was encouraged by what that advantage can mean in the passing and serving games.
"I thought Shanice served really really well. That's another reason I'm happy to get Final Four in our gym, because serving and passing is huge, and if I look back over the last number of weeks, teams have been playing us closer for a while and we've been able to get one or two big runs. Tonight definitely Shanice with her serving was able to help build some confidence."
Kyla Richey and
Rayel Quiring played their final regular season home games for UBC on Saturday, and both had nights to be proud of. Although they didn't have to post the monster numbers they are capable due to the minutes being spread around the roster, they still finished one-two in kills, with eight for Richey and seven for Quiring.
"I've been privileged to coach a lot of talented players. I think they had some good role models here when they were starting their careers, and they've also been great role models now for our younger players moving forward," Reimer said of his graduating seniors. "Yes they have talent, but to consistently win championships means theres a lot of character too and they are a huge part of being able to do that consistently. That's what I really want to emphasize is that it's not just the four banners that are up there. It's what it takes to get there. It's a struggle and it's ongoing, but that's just what we do."
Rosie Schlagintweit added six kills for UBC, and Marcelle had five, as well as a match-high 13 digs.
Victoria Daikin, Alexis Loewen, Claire Willerton, Jaryn Ruether and Larissa Vonkeman all tied for the team lead with three kills for Brandon. Willerton and Vonkman also were in on five blocks each.
The Bobcats fall to 8-10 on the season, now tied for the seventh and final playoff spot with Thompson Rivers. TRU owns the tiebreaker over Brandon though from sweeping their series earlier this season, so the Bobcats need at least one win over Alberta in their final series next weekend to make the playoffs.
The win pushes UBC's record to 17-1, and while they already have first place locked up, there's still lots to play for in their final regular season series. They take on rival Trinity Western next weekend on the road in a battle of the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the CIS.
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