VANCOUVER – The No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds women's volleyball team fell in four sets to the Mt. Royal Cougars in Calgary on Friday. The hosts won by set scores of 25-18, 26-24, 24-26 and 25-17 as the top-ranked Thunderbirds committed 22 attack errors on the night.
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BOX SCORE
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The pivotal point of the match may have been the final moments of the second set. After dropping the first, UBC went on a late 8-3 run, which included two
Mariah Bruinsma service aces and kills from
Rosie Schlagintweit (2),
Lisa Barclay (2),
Emily Cicon and
Alissa Coulter, to earn eight set points. But the Cougars miraculously reeled off the next 10 points, five of which came on Mikayla Fritzke kills, to earn the victory.
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In fact, Mt. Royal used late runs to capture every set on Friday night.
In the fourth, an
Abbey Keeping ace late in the set pulled UBC to within one point at 17-16 but again, Mt. Royal scored eight of the final nine points to clinch the match victory, their sixth of the regular season against 11 losses.
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The T-Birds forced a third, after teetering on the brink of getting swept. After going back-and-forth for most of the game, the Cougars earned a match point at 24-22 but the 'Birds won the final four points thanks to kills from Keeping and Barclay along with two attack errors.
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UBC trailed in the opening set 19-17 but lost six of the final seven points to go down 25-18.
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It is the second loss in three matches for the Thunderbirds, who are now 15-2 on the season. Schlagintweit had 14 kills for the team while Barclay had 13.
Briana Liau Kent led the team with 13 digs while
Kirsty Setterlund had 39 assists.
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The same teams will play again on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. PT.
