VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds women's volleyball team split its two games on Saturday at the Vulcan Classic in Hilo, Hawaii.
UBC began the day with a 3-1 morning victory over the host team, the University of Hawaii at Hilo (NCAA Division II).
BOXSCORE
Lisa Barclay (Brandon, MB) led the way with 19 kills as UBC rallied to take the victory after losing the first set 25-27. The T-Birds went on to win the next three sets by scores of 25-19, 25-17 and 25-11.
The T-Birds got progressively stronger as the match went on, ending the fourth and final set on a 10-0 run that saw three kills from newcomer
Danielle Brisebois (Bolton, ON) and two service aces from
Mariah Bruinsma (Chilliwack, BC).
Bruinsma also collected two aces at the end of the third set, which the Thunderbirds closed out with a 7-1 spurt. The other five points came off errors by the Vulcans.
The big UBC run in the second set came early. Down 7-5, the team recorded the next eight points to go up 13-7 with Barclay knocking down three kills. The T-Birds were able to stay ahead the rest of the way, clinching the set with two more Barclay kills after the Vulcans closed to 23-19.
In the afternoon, UBC fell in straight sets against Nebraska at Kearney (NCAA Division II), the No. 4-ranked team in the American Volleyball Coaches Association (AVCA) Top 25 preseason poll.
BOXSCORE
The scores were 25-22, 27-25 and 25-19 in favour of the Lopers.
In a back-and-forth first set, Nebraska at Kearney jumped out to a 6-2 lead before an
Abbey Keeping (Surrey, BC) kill tied it at seven points apiece.
That sequence continued to the end of the set. UNK won the next six points to go up 13-7 but then UBC recorded six of the next seven to close to 14-13.
From then on, neither team could build a lead larger than two until the final point of the set.
The second game was even more competitive as
Lisa Barclay continued her good play to start the 2012-13 season.
The CIS Championship MVP recorded nine of her match-high 18 kills in the middle frame but UNK did well to prevent any big runs by UBC. The team was also hampered by ten service errors over three sets.
A
Rosie Schlagintweit (Abbotsford, BC) kill gave the Thunderbirds a set point at 24-23 but they couldn't hold off the Lopers, who proceeded to take four of the next five points to win.
The third set began with the teams trading blows, splitting the first 28 points evenly but two 4-0 mini-runs the last half of the third set allowed UNK to seize a 23-17 lead, which it nursed home for the win.
Shanice Marcelle (Victoria, BC) led UBC with 12 digs.
The Thunderbirds finish the Vulcan Classic with a 2-1 record. UBC will now return home for the start of the school year. The team will head off to Quebec in early October for more non-conference action before returning home to play in the West Coast Classic, a week before the start of Canada West regular season play.
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