Vancouver - The Regina Cougars nearly put an end to UBC's unbeaten streak dating back to October 2012 on Friday, going ahead 2-1 before the Thunderbirds rallied for the 3-2 (22-25, 25-21, 16-25, 25-21, 15-8) road victory.
"It was a gutsy finish and I'm proud of our effort especially in the fifth set after 8-8," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer. "Regina was full value for the sets they won and it showed we need to bring a more consistent level of high end play. We will try and tighten up some areas and get after it again tomorrow night."
Lisa Barclay had 11 of her match-high 24 kills in sets four and five to help the T-Birds complete the comeback and improve to 11-0 on the year. The Thunderbirds ended the fifth set on an 8-0 run, with four of those points coming off Barclay kills.
You wouldn't have guessed based on the first three sets that UBC had won 35 straight CIS regular season or playoff matches heading into Friday's tilt in Regina, and were sitting on a 10-0 record this season, while the Cougars were just 3-7 on the year and already beginning to fade from the playoff picture.
The Cougars came out swinging, led by their explosive duo of outside hitter Desiree Ates and middle blocker Michelle Sweeting. Ates blasted five kills in the first set, including two straight Regina points late in the frame to help seal the deal. Sweeting had four kills in the first.
After the 'Birds evened things up at one, it was Ates and Sweeting spurring the Cougars forward in the third set again. The pair combined for four straight Regina points to get their team in front 5-2, setting the tone for the rest of the set. At one point Regina led 21-10 before the 'Birds went on a mini-run that included three straight service aces from
Abbey Keeping to make it a 25-16 final.
But the 'Birds didn't get to be six-time defending national champions without getting themselves out of some very tough spots. UBC turned the defence up a notch in the fourth, holding Regina to a .077 team hitting percentage. After falling behind 10-7 the 'Birds put together an 8-2 run to take the lead, and they never gave it up.
Barclay also stepped her game up a levelin the fourth, coming up with six kills and helping spark that key scoring run, along with second-year hitter
Juliana Kaufmanis, who had four kills in the fourth. She ended up with 10 kills on .320 hitting, and seven digs.
Ates led the way for Regina with 16 kills. Sweeting added 13 kills, three block assists and two solo blocks.
Rosie Schlagintweit had 11 kills and nine digs for UBC. Keeping had seven kills, three aces and four blocks.
Kirsty Setterlund had 49 assists.
The T-Birds and Cougars wrap up the first half of the regular season schedule on Saturday at 5 p.m.
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