VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds scooped up their second straight Canada West title with a 3-0 win (25-20, 25-19, 25-22) over the Manitoba Bisons on Saturday night.

Both teams played championship-caliber volleyball in all three sets, but every time the Bisons crept up and looked like they were about to establish a lead, the T-Birds had the answer. UBC's depth of talent was on full display, as the T-Birds used great team defence and a balanced attack to win their second straight conference gold, and their fifth in the last seven seasons.
 

"I was really pleased with our performance tonight. It was a great team effort against a talented Manitoba team," said UBC head coach Doug Reimer. "Frankly, we had some late-season struggles, so for us to turn it around, win the match last night and play really well as a group today is encouraging going forward."

After a scorching-hot Friday night performance from the Canada West MVP, Lisa Barclay was held in check a little better by the Bisons on Saturday, but she still managed to lead the match with 13 kills. Just as important as those kills, however, was her passing and the general floor space she opens up for teammates.

"I thought Lisa struggled a bit more offensively today, but we had much better offensive balance," Reimer said. "She opens up things just with her presence on the court because other teams know what she can do, and I thought she passed the ball well today, so there are other ways to make contributions, and she did that."

UBC libero Briana Liau Kent was another star of Friday's match, racking up digs like they were going out of style. She led the match again with 12 digs Saturday, and was a consistent anchor for the T-Birds all weekend.

"She was unreal yesterday, and steady again today and dug a lot of balls," Reimer said. "It was a great weekend and I'm so pleased with her play."

Rosie Schlagintweit had 11 kills on .360 hitting. Abbey Keeping added nine and Juliana Kaufmanis had seven. 

For the Bisons, Jordana Milne led the way offensively with eight kills. Rachel Cockrell had seven, and setter Brittany Habing was arguably their most effective source of offence, with five kills in six attempts. She also had 23 assists.

In set on, the 'Birds sided out at 71 per cent to prevent the Bisons from getting any sustained momentum going. Middle blocker Abbey Keeping showed why she was one of the most efficient attackers in the conference, racking up five kills on five attacks to get UBC settled with a 1-0 lead.

UBC's serving game was huge throughout the night, and particularly in the first two sets. Kaufmanis and Mariah Bruinsma had three aces each after two, and UBC had seven as a team compared to three for Manitoba. Even when they weren't recording aces, the T-Bird servers kept Manitoba's offence out of sync just enough to have the edge throughout the match.

The third set was the only time the Bisons had a significant lead, as they jumped out to a 7-2 advantage and led 9-4 before UBC turned the engines on. From there, the T-Birds surged ahead with a 7-0 lead on Rosie Schlagintweit's serve. The Bisons briefly regained the lead 18-17, but T-Bird subs Danielle Brisebois and Alissa Coulter closed things out strong to secure the win for UBC.

This makes 16 straight regular season or playoff victories for UBC over Manitoba, dating back to November 9, 2007. UBC also topped Manitoba in the 2010 Canada West finals 3-2, and eventually met them in the CIS finals that year as well, winning 3-1.

The T-Birds now look forward to next week in Regina, where the team will look to win a CIS record seventh-straight women's volleyball national title. This makes the fifth time UBC has won the conference title during that run.

"Part of you knows that for any team that qualifies, anything can happen, and you can win a national championship coming in from all sorts of positions," Reimer said. "I think our team will stay respectful of that. But you have to play each match as it comes and winning the Canada West championship is a goal every team has every year. It's a real positive from where we were two weeks ago in Alberta and struggling, to get it done when we have to, it puts us in good position."

UBC, Manitoba and Trinity Western all join host Regina at the eight-team CIS tournament next week. The tourney runs February 28-March 2 in Regina.