VANCOUVER - The No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds women's volleyball team needed just 55 minutes to sweep past the host Thompson Rivers WolfPack 3-0 (25-10, 25-16, 25-11) in Canada West action in Kamloops Friday night.
BOX SCORE
“It is always good to come into an unfamiliar gym," said Thunderbirds head coach
Doug Reimer. The match was played at the old TRU Gymnasium instead of the WolfPack's usual home venue of the Tournament Capital Centre.
“None of our players have ever performed here before. We had to adapt. We got the chance to play some different people. There were times where our execution wasn't the best but it was good to see some of our younger players.“
Kirsty Setterlund (White Rock, BC) started the T-Birds off on the right foot as she recorded three aces in a row during a 5-0 service run that opened the first set.
She added two more to set up game point and eventually provided the assist on the final kill by
Rosie Schlagintweit (Abbotsford, BC). It was one of Setterlund's 26 assists in the match. She also had five aces. Setterlund started in place of the injured
Brina Derksen-Bergen (Abbotsford, BC).
Up just 9-8 in the second set, UBC went on a 12-3 run, capped off by an ace from Jessica Von Schilling (Victoria, BC), to pull away.
The T-Birds gave up the first two points of the third set but took 10 of the next 11 to go ahead for good.
The Thunderbirds were led by
Lisa Barclay (Brandon, MB), who had 10 kills in 14 swings. Schlagintweit had nine kills in 16 opportunities while
Danielle Richards (Shawnigan Lake, BC) had a team-high five digs.
UBC recorded an impressive hitting percentage of .381 while holding the home team to -.241. Every TRU player ended the match with a negative figure in the hitting percentage category.
With the victory, UBC moves to 14-1 on the season and extends its winning streak to 13 matches. The teams play again Saturday at the TRU Gym, with the first serve at 5 p.m.
- with files from Larry Read (Thompson Rivers Sports Information)
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