REGINA, Sask. – The No. 8 UBC Thunderbirds completed a weekend sweep on Saturday night with their second three-set road win in as many nights over the Regina Cougars at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
 
"We did a much better job tonight especially our blocking," said UBC head coach Doug Reimer. "Steady serving was key in the first and third sets. Kelsey Clarke came in and helped us every set this weekend and tonight Ciara had a huge serving run that turned around the third set. In the tight second set we battled back and that was valuable experience for our team."
 
UBC hit .440 as a team in the first set as the Thunderbirds rolled to a 25-12 win, but the Cougars were a different team in the second. The U of R went on a 5-0 run with Dominika Janowczyk serving to force an early UBC timeout after jumping out to a 7-3 lead, and led by as many as six points after the media timeout after an Ashlee Sandiford service ace gave the Cougars a 20-14 lead.
 
But the timeout called by Reimer after the Sandiford ace was the turning point of the set – and maybe the match.
 
The Thunderbirds (4-0) scored 12 of the next 16 points to take the second by a 26-24 score, evading a set point at 24-23 for the Cougars and finishing off the comeback with a service ace by substitute Juliana Kaufmanis (Richmond, B.C.).
 
The Cougars again got out to a quick start in the third and led by six in the early going, but again UBC came back – and this time in monumental fashion. Regina first-year setter Satomi Togawa went down with what appeared to be a knee injury and though the Cougars took two of the next three points on Sandiford kills to go up 12-10, those turned out to be their final points of the set. Ciara Hanly (Calgary) got a kill on the next point for UBC, and then she served the rest of the match as the Thunderbirds closed out the match with a 15-0 run.
 
Danielle Brisebois (Bolton, Ont.) led all players with 13 kills for the Thunderbirds and also added a team-high 10 digs for the double-double while registering five service aces and four blocks. Alissa Coulter (Calgary) added nine kills and hit .368 for the match, while setter Alessandra Gentile (Port Moody, B.C.) finished with 23 assists and four kills.
 
Sandiford and Kristine Ward each had seven kills to lead the Cougars, while Ward had a match-high 11 digs. Molly Wade-Cummings led all players with six blocks. The Cougars ended up hitting .039 as a team during the match, while UBC's offence chugged along at a .257 clip.
 
The Cougars (0-6) will be back in action at home next weekend against Brandon, while UBC will also be at home with a pair of afternoon games against Calgary next Friday and Saturday, as part of UBC Thunderbirds Super Weekend.