VANCOUVER – For the fourth time in the past five seasons, the UBC Thunderbirds are Canada West champions. The 'Birds beat the Trinity Western Spartans 3-1 (25-23, 18-25, 25-18, 25-20) on Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Gym to take the title.
Canada West MVP
Shanice Marcelle led all players with 13 kills, but her defensive effort may have been even more important. She had a match-high 16 digs and added four blocks, not letting the Spartans get anything done offensively without heavy resistance.
“We needed to make plays, and Shanice makes plays, almost without exception, at key times,” said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer. “She can do it in so many different ways, but defensively today she was really critical.”
The T-Birds grinded out every point defensively, unable to get their own offence running at full power, but preventing the Spartans from doing the same. After Trinity Western won the second set to tie the match at one, they were held to a team hitting percentage right around .100 the rest of the way.
“When you have two good offensive teams and two good defensive teams, that's going to put you in some pressure situations,” said Reimer. “I'm not too shocked that it was a little bit up and down, but it definitely wasn't our cleanest play.”
The Spartans narrowly outhit UBC .157 to .153 in the match.
The first set was a pivotal one, with the T-Birds falling behind as many as six points and the large crowd of Spartan supporters in attendance putting momentum in the visitors' corner. A 6-0 run on
Jessica von Schilling's serve got the 'Birds back into the action though, and they went ahead late on a string of
Lisa Barclay kills.
Set two was all Spartans, as they started out on a 6-1 run and finished with a blocking clinic from middle Alicia Perrin. She blocked five balls in the set and finished the game with seven. Set three was the opposite, with UBC taking a big lead early and holding onto it throughout.
The T-Birds again found themselves trailing several points in the fourth, but Marcelle heated up for three quick kills midway through the set to get UBC on even footing, and they executed very well down the stretch, capping things off with a powerful Barclay kill off the block.
“We can take a lot out of that match. It was a great atmosphere, great team, important match, and we were getting pushed which hasn't happened that much. So for me as a coach, I'm really happy that we had that experience here, having to fight through some ups and downs this week, so we're ready for next week,” Reimer said.
Barclay finished with 11 kills but was a major focal point of the Spartan blockers, and was held to a negative hitting percentage. Schlagintweit had eight kills, and middle blocker Abigail Keeping had another efficient night with six kills on 10 attacks, adding four blocks.
Perrin led the Spartans offensively with 11 kills. Amber Brown and Carly Hamilton both had seven. Kelci French posted 30 assists and 11 digs from the setter spot.
Inlcuding this year, UBC has beaten Trinity Western in the Canada West Finals three times over the past five seasons.
The Spartans will have their chance for revenge though, as both teams now advance to the CIS national tournament next weekend in Quebec. Canada West third-place finishers Alberta also move on.
UBC will be in search of a sixth-straight CIS title next week. The tournament runs from February 28 to March 2 in Sherbrooke, QC.
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