VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds easily dispatched of the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack in game one of this weekend's double header. In a short match that lasted only 62 minutes, the Thunderbirds won comfortably with scores of 25-12, 25-10 and 25-12.
BOX SCORE
Lisa Barclay had a game-high nine kills for UBC while Brianne Rauch led TRU with eight kills, while Kaitlin Lomas had five.
The no. 1-ranked UBC started strong, quickly racing away to a 15-6 lead in the first ten minutes. Barclay picked up five kills in the opening set and really set the tone for the 'Birds offence. Fellow outside-hitter
Rosie Schlagintweit also had an impressive first set with three kills of her own and four assists.
Abbey Keeping made some important blocks and UBC quickly ran away with the first set.
The second set started closely with the Wolfpack's Carly Nelson capping off a 3-0 run with a kill to level the score at 6-6 through the first 12 serves, but UBC called a timeout and quickly regrouped, soon pulling away to 16-8.
UBC head coach
Doug Reimer introduced a couple of substitutes to play the majority of the third set and they continued on where the starters had left off. One impressive play in particular happened early in the third when Schlagintweit dove low to keep the ball alive only for
Juliana Kaufmanis to have to do the same off of her pass, Kaitlin Crawford dug the ball back over the net to complete a superb defensive sequence.
Danielle Brisebois finished the game with a powerful spike to move the Thunderbirds to 3-0 on the season and a rematch to come against the Wolfpack tomorrow afternoon
Lisa Barclay ended the match with nine kills, four digs and a solo block while fourth-year setter
Kirsty Setterlund contributed a massive 24 assists and four service aces.
Reimer was unsurprisingly very pleased with his team's performance. "We came out with great energy; we served very well which I was happy about especially as Thompson Rivers passed the ball really well for most of the match."
The two teams will play again on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Vancouver.
-30-
