The University of British Columbia Athletics

Vancouver, BC - With a playoff spot already secured and finishing first place in the conference looking ever more likely, it is with relish that the UBC Thunderbirds women's volleyball team heads to Calgary this weekend to take on the Mount Royal Cougars.
 
Last weekend featured a small blip on the train of success that has been the last few years for the women's volleyball team. A loss against the Brandon Bobcats was UBC's first loss in 40 matches and the first regular season or playoff loss since October 2012. The No. 2 ranked Bobcats downed UBC three sets to one on the Friday before the Thunderbirds hastily exacted revenge, completely a 3-0 victory the following night.
 
The Thunderbirds still remain No. 1 in the country and by some margin too; this weekend's opponents should offer less of a challenge as the Cougars sit well below .500 and have lost their last four.
 
All of those four losses have come away from home however, and the last time Mount Royal played in their own gym they picked up two resounding wins against Thompson Rivers. They currently display one of the most dramatic home and away splits in the conference: 5-2 in their own gym and 0-9 away.
 
The Cougars offense features primarily around Julia Pasieka and Carolyn O'Dwyer. Pasieka has a hitting percentage of .270 which is good for ninth in the conference and O'Dwyer has an average of 2.90 kills per set which is just outside the top 10 in Canada West. At setter, Mackenzie Allen leads her team in assists and her figure of 8.58/set is sixth-best in the conference.
 
On paper UBC completely overpower the Cougars. The Thunderbirds possess the player with the most kills, Lisa Barclay (4.21/set); the player with the most service aces, Mariah Bruinsma (0.54/set) and have two players in the top 10 for blocks in Bruinsma and Abbey Keeping. Kirsty Setterlund averages 9.86 assists a set and Rosie Schlagintweit sits ninth for kills and 11^th in hitting percentage.
 
The team itself ranks first in the following categories conference-wide: hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, assists and service aces. The 'Birds also rank second in kills and third in blocks.
 
Friday, January 24^th
No. 1 UBC at Mount Royal – 5:00pm (PST)
 
Saturday, January 25^th
No. 1 UBC at Mount Royal – 5:30pm (PST)