VANCOUVER – The CIS No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds made it 15 straight wins with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-20, 25-17) result at home against the UBC Okanagan Heat on Friday at War Memorial Gym.
BOX SCORE
The 'Birds were led by their former CIS MVP
Shanice Marcelle, who was virtually unstoppable through two sets before being slowed down somewhat in the third to finish with a mere mortal stat line of 14 kills on .500 hitting.
She had 12 of those kills through the first two sets, including one on perhaps the best performance in one point by an individual T-Bird player this season. With UBC up 19-11 in the second set, Marcelle laid out for a full-extension dive to her right at the back of the court, digging up a Heat spike with one outstretched arm. Then after a long, intense rally, Marcelle finished what she started with a powerful smash out of the back row.
That point actually seemed to spark the Heat, as they went on a 5-0 run from there while the 'Birds went through a rough stretch of errors. They managed to right the ship in time to pull out the set and win the match in three, but head coach
Doug Reimer saw room for improvement when his side takes the floor for game two of this series on Saturday.
“It wasn't necessarily our cleanest match but I kind of expected that, and knew these guys wouldn't just go away,” said Reimer. “Both teams will think there are things they can tighten up and build on for tomorrow. There was a lot of good volleyball but it just wasn't consistent enough throughout.”
WVB: T-Birds v. UBCO (Jan. 25, 2013) Gallery
UBC hit .267 for the match and sided out extremely well in the first and third sets, but struggled somewhat in the second. They were also streaky at the service line, at times giving Heat major headaches, but also committing 11 errors compared to five for UBCO.
The Heat lost their star middle, Canada West blocks leader Katy Klomps, to a leg injury after the first point of the first set, and it clearly impacted their ability to slow the 'Birds at the net, as they managed just two blocks in the match.
Jessica von Schilling racked up three blocks in the middle for UBC, adding five kills on eight attacks. UBC had five team blocks.
The 'Birds also got a great burst of energy from rookie
Danielle Brisebois off the bench to close out the match. She had three blocks during a stretch of four points after coming in with the score 19-16, and then blasted an ace through the defence on match point.
“She sure had an impact. I'm sure people were asking why didn't she play more,” Reimer joked about her brief but effective performance.
Libero
Briana Liau Kent had a solid match defensively for UBC, leading all players with nine digs.
Alexandra Basso, Myrtle Schon and Brianna Beamish all tied for the team lead with six kills for the Heat.
UBC is now 16-1 on the year but still just a single game up on Trinity Western in the standings. The Heat are 11-6 and just one game out of third place, so they have plenty to play for when the teams wrap up the series on Saturday at 5 p.m.
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