VANCOUVER – The sixth-ranked UBC Thunderbirds continue to roll, as they defeated the Mt. Royal Cougars in straight sets (25-20, 25-22, 25-15) Friday night in Calgary to remain undefeated at 9-0 in Canada West women's volleyball play.
 
The loss drops Mt. Royal to 4-5.
 
In a solid team effort, each set saw a dominant performance from different Thunderbirds players. Danielle Brisebois (Bolton, Ont.) controlled the first; Laura MacTaggart (Lacombe, Alta.) took over the second, and Alissa Coulter (Calgary) was the best player on the floor in the third.
 
In total, Brisebois registered nine kills, MacTaggart registered eight, and Coulter had 11 to go along with four digs. Meanwhile Taylor Pelland led all Cougars with seven kills. 
 
"We had solid contributions and balance from our outside hitters," said UBC head coach Doug Reimer. "We struggled with some basic execution especially in the second set, although kudos for our ability to hang in there and find a way to pull it out.
 
"In that second set and at other times I thought our backcourt play from libero Samantha Patko was key, as well as the contributions of Laura Worsley coming in off the bench."
 
Behind strong play and a few key kills from Kylie Willis, the Cougars stayed right with the Thunderbirds early in the first set. But with the score tied at 19, Cougars' outside hitter Taylor Pellend sent a serve into the net, starting a Thunderbirds four-point run, which had a kill from Nicola Laniuk (Delta, B.C.), and a kill and an ace from Brisebois.
 
The Thunderbirds won six of the last seven points to take the first set 25-20. MacTaggart knocked down a kill to give UBC a set point. She then teamed up with Ciara Hanly (Calgary) for a combination block that finished the proceedings in the first.
 
Thunderbirds outside hitter Brisebois, who leads her team with 101 kills on the season, paced her team with four kills in the first set. 
 
With a strong net front presence and excellent play from Carolina Alongi and Kylie Willis, the Cougar stormed out to a 12-6 lead in the second set, forcing a Thunderbirds timeout. 
 
The Cougars continued their strong play after the timeout and took a commanding 21-15 lead. However, the Thunderbirds showed that it's not about how you start but how you finish by winning four unanswered points to force an MRU timeout.
 
The timeout didn't deter the Thunderbirds momentum. UBC claimed the next two points to tie the set at 21-21. A kill by Alex Donaghy of the Cougars gave her team the lead back at 22-21 but her service error on the next play made it 22-22. Hanly, MacTaggart and Juliana Kaufmanis completed the comeback by knocking down kills on consecutive points.
 
MacTaggart, the most noticeable 'Bird on the floor in the second set, made a few exceptional digs too, as her team took 10 out of the final 11 points, stealing the second set 25-22. 
 
Coulter had a dominating third set for the Thunderbirds. Doing all but putting a hole in the hardwood, Coulter sent spike after spike past Cougars' defenders. The rest of Coulter's teammates followed suit, and the Thunderbirds took the third and final set 25-15. After evenly splitting the first 20 with MRU, UBC then rolled off the next seven, mostly on Brisebois' serve, to take control.
 
The two teams will complete their weekend series on Saturday, beginning at 6 p.m. PT.
 
- with files from Mt. Royal Sports Information