EDMONTON – Unsurprisingly with two former CIS champions squaring off, a five-set match (25-17, 19-25, 27-29, 25-22, 15-6) was the result, with the No. 9 UBC Thunderbirds earning the victory as well as a weekend split against the No. 3 Alberta Pandas, Saturday night at Saville Community Sports Centre.
 
Fourth-year right side Juliana Kaufmanis (Richmond, B.C.) spun a team-high 20 kills for the visitors, narrowly besting her teammate Danielle Brisebois (Bolton, Ont.), who had 19. Sophomore middle Ciara Hanly (Calgary) chipped in 12 while senior left side Alissa Coulter (Calgary) also broke double digits with 10. Fifth in the nation in assists per set, third-year setter Alessandra Gentile (Port Moody, B.C.) put up 57 in the win, now standing at 9.32 per set.

The CIS second-leading scorer in kills per set, Meg Casault, netted a game-high 21 kills to go with 10 digs while fourth-year outside hitter Kacey Otto recorded 17 and 13, respectively. Third-year setter Mariah Walsh added 48 assists in a losing cause.
 
The opening set was all UBC, firing at a 55 per cent attack rating and starting with an 11-4 run, which included a 5-0 run on two Brisebois aces and kills from Nicola Laniuk (Surrey, B.C.), Kaufmanis and Coulter. The Pandas countered with a few points intermittently but unable to halt the momentum of the road team. An ace Katie Crawford (North Vancouver) made it 20-13. Otto served into the net for the 1-0 T-Bird set lead.
 
The second set displayed more of the usual pattern between these two long-time rivals, with barely any space between them on the scoreboard until Casault went on an absolute tear.
 
Tied at 16, the Edmonton native tallied seven of Alberta's nine remaining points in the set, including four in a 6-0 run, capping things off with two straight kills off the UBC block and out to equalize the set score at one apiece.
 
The third set returned proceedings to a battle in the trenches, the squads combining for 34 kills but neither giving their opponent an obvious edge, requiring extra time before a UBC serve and an ensuing attack both went long, setting the stage for Brisebois to tie things up once more at 26. The T-Birds took the lead on the next point but Alberta won the next three to take a 2-1 set lead.
 
Though the fourth set featured more momentum swings than a tight point battle, it was still Brisebois and Otto who took to the air the most, firing a combined 12 kills at the opposition, after letting loose a collective baker's dozen in the third, but it was UBC's Coulter delivering the final kill shot to cap off a set-ending 6-2 run, Otto unable to recover on the Alberta defensive side in time.
 
The T-Birds showed no mercy, however, opening with a commanding 8-1 lead, thanks in part to two aces from Gentile. Casault tried to reply with a trio of kills for the home team after the technical timeout, but a Kaufmanis kill made it 11-4 and gave Victoria Behie (Nanaimo, B.C.) a chance to serve. She, like Brisebois, delivered two aces as the Thunderbirds earned a match point at 14-4. The Pandas earned two straight points but fittingly, Kaufmanis erased all hope with a precise kill out of reach of the Pandas to earn the weekend split.
 
The 14-4 Pandas head on the road next weekend to face off against the Regina Cougars while the 12-4 T-Birds head to Kelowna to face off against the UBC Okanagan Heat.