The University of British Columbia Athletics

Vancouver, BC - For the second day in a row, the UBC women's volleyball team defeated the Calgary Dinos in three straight sets (25-13, 25-19, 25-16) at War Memorial Gym. With this victory, UBC's record moves to 10-0 while Calgary's slides to 4-6.
 


A kill by Abbey Keeping put UBC's first point on the scoreboard for the second day in a row; this would be her first of five kills in the opening set. Both Mariah Bruinsma and Lisa Barclay led the team early on with strategic kills and strong blocks and the 'Birds quickly found themselves with a comfortable lead. Through clean play and clear communication, UBC continued to pull away and after Kaitlin Crawford, Juliana Kaufmanis, Emily Cicon, and Danielle Brisebois entered the game, UBC make quick work of finishing the first set, 25-13.
 
In the second set, play began competitively as Calgary fell into a rhythm absent from the first set. Alissa Coulter was crucial to UBC's offensive attack and helped the 'Birds regain a lead over the Dinos. Lisa Barclay came alive on the net, tallying 6 kills during the set. At setter, Kirsty Setterlund contributed a noteworthy 18 assists, freeing up UBC's hitters to open fire against the Dinos; Rosie Schlagintweit's kills were so intense that the Dinos were unable to respond in two consecutive plays. After the technical timeout, the 'Birds returned energized and slowly created a notable gap on the scoreboard eventually winning the second set 25-19.
 
The third set opened with a Rosie Schlagintweit kill, putting UBC first on the board. The Thunderbirds maintained this momentum and, much like the first set, established a quick lead over Calgary. Mariah Bruinsma, Barclay, and Schlagintweit were dominant on the net, sending over attacks that the Dinos were consistently unable to deter, and by the technical timeout, the 'Birds led by 10. After contributing a powerful ace, Danielle Brisebois closed the set with a strong kill, allowing UBC to take the match and the set, 25-16.
 
Head Coach Doug Reimer was pleased with the team's performance over the course of the weekend.

"I'm really happy with a lot of our play. I thought today we were very steady in all areas and I liked our consistency of play. I think we went after it with a lot of intensity and I thought we got good contributions from a number of players. There are a few things we tweaked a bit from day one to day two, which made it really good to see that we could make some quick adjustments that way."

In regard to the strength and versatility of the team's lineups, he noted, "It's good for those players to know they can come in and contribute. We are going to need more of that in the future. I know we have some challenges down the road."
 
Barclay and Schlagintweit led the 'Birds with a game-high 12 kills each, while Keeping and Brisebois each contributed 7. Setterlund tallied a stunning 48 assists and tied Barclay with 6 digs.
 
Ali Woolley led the Dinos with 9 kills and 8 digs, while Maura Hayes contributed 7 kills and 5 digs. 
 
The Thunderbirds will travel to Saskatchewan next weekend to face-off against the 3-7 University of Regina Cougars. Friday evening's game will begin at 4:00pm PST and Saturday's game will start at 3:00 pm PST.