VANCOUVER - Despite winning 18 straight matches and 36 straight sets, the No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds still have work to do on the final weekend of the regular season if they want to secure a first-round bye and hosting rights for the Canada West Final Four. Four graduating seniors,
Danielle Richards,
Brina Derksen-Bergen,
Shanice Marcelle and
Jessica von Schilling, will be honoured in their final regular season home games.
TICKETS /
WEBCAST
GAME TIMES
Friday, Feb. 8
6 p.m. - Mt. Royal at No. 1 UBC
Saturday, Feb. 9
5 p.m. - Mt. Royal at No. 1 UBC
No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds (19-1)
Last Week: W 3-0, W 3-0 at Brandon
The T-Birds own plenty of impressive statistics, but they won't tell you much that you didn't already know about this team based on its 19-1 record and string of five consecutive national titles. UBC has an abundance of championship pedigree on the roster, and the 'Birds seem poised to launch yet another strong CIS banner defence, but despite all that, they only lead the conference by a single game over the Trinity Western Spartans heading into the final week.
UBC hasn't lost since going down to TWU in Langley in game two of their season-opening series, but the Spartans have only one loss since, and have been dominating their schedule almost as consistently as the 'Birds during that stretch. Both UBC and TWU play top contenders in the conference this week (14-6 Mount Royal for UBC, 14-6 Alberta for TWU), so the battle for first is about as far from being decided as it possibly can be with only two games left.
But the 'Birds can take comfort in the fact that their fate rests entirely in their own hands. If they can round their streak up to an even 20 games, first place is theirs regardless of what the Spartans come up with this weekend. That would mean a first-round bye straight to the Canada West Final Four, which UBC would host, with the top three finishers moving on to nationals.
With both
Shanice Marcelle and
Lisa Barclay planted firmly in the top five on the Canada West kills leaderboard,
Jessica von Schilling heading up the team's top-ranked blocking unit, and setter
Brina Derksen-Bergen running away with the assists race, it's hard to find a reason to pick against the 'Birds taking care of business yet again to wrap up the regular season.
Mount Royal Cougars (14-6)
Last Week: W 3-1, W 3-1 at Thompson Rivers
The Cougars are 6-2 since the holiday break, losing only to Trinity Western two weeks ago. That consistent play has them locked into a playoff spot in their inaugural CIS season, with home court for round one remaining a definite possibility. They currently sit in the fourth and final spot offering home court for round one, a single game up on their would-be round one opponents from UBC Okanagan.
Mount Royal swept the winless Thompson Rivers WolfPack last week, but it does seem worth mentioning that TRU also won only its third set all season against Mount Royal, and that two other sets in the series were decided by only two points. A dominant three-set win counts just the same as a five-set squeaker in the standings, but the Cougars would probably feel a little better about their chances heading into the playoffs if they could eliminate those let-downs from their game.
But inconsistency tends to come with the territory when your top offensive weapon is a rookie. Freshman outside hitter Carolyn O'Dwyer leads the team with an average of 3.15 kills per game, and that's after her average took a big dip when she recorded just one kill in limited playing time in game two last week. That knocked her out of the top five in conference kills, but she's still had a very impressive season as a first-year player leading a first-year CIS team to the playoffs. If she can keep that level of play up for one more week, her Cougars should be hosting a playoff series next weekend, but that will be easier said than done against the defending champs.
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