SHERBROOKE, Que. - The UBC Thunderbirds women's volleyball team has advanced to the semifinals at the CIS championships in Sherbrooke, Quebec. The No. 1-seeded Thunderbirds swept past No. 8 Laval in straight sets (25-21, 25-13, 25-19) on Thursday afternoon in the quarter-finals.
“We knew Laval would come out hard,” said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer. “I don't think they're really an eighth-seeded team. They're better than that; they're more experienced than that. They played their game, especially in the first set. They came out with no nerves, digging and hitting great shots.”
WVB: T-Birds v. Laval (Feb. 28, 2013) Gallery
Laval was in control of the match early in the first set, opening up a 9-3 lead before the T-Birds steadied themselves and forced the Rouge et Or into more errors as the game went on. UBC scored 19 of the last 28 points in the first set.
“In the first round, lots of things can happen, especially against an experienced team,” said Reimer. “So I'm how happy with how we hung in there and weathered the storm, to a degree, and played with composure to win that first set.”
After claiming the first, the Thunderbirds, on the strength of some strong service runs, dominated the second, nearly doubling Laval. UBC held leads of 14-7 and 18-10 in the first 20 minutes of play. At 19-12, the T-Birds regained the service and picked up the last six points of the set to win 25-12.
“I thought we played a very good second set overall and in some ways, there was a tentative start to the set three. We didn't continue to assert ourselves,” said Reimer. “That was a good test for us, that was not an easy test and it's not getting easier.”
Laval regrouped and pushed UBC in the third but wasn't able to build any momentum, despite hitting .359 as the T-Birds were even more efficient offensively, knocking down balls at a .459 clip.
UBC's
Lisa Barclay (Brandon, MB) led all players with 17 kills while
Shanice Marcelle (Victoria, BC) dug up 14 balls to go with her seven kills. Setter
Brina Derksen-Bergen (Abbotsford, BC) was named the T-Birds' player of the match after recording 39 assists. Esther Gilbert had nine kills for Laval.
Over the course of the three sets, UBC hit .337 while Laval hit .159.
The Thunderbirds will move on to the national semifinals, where they will face Trinity Western in a rematch of the Canada West final. The Spartans defeated Dalhousie 3-0 in their opening-round match.
Game time is Friday, March 1 at 3:00 p.m. PST and can be seen live at
CIS TV.
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