VANCOUVER – Fresh off a road split at then-No. 3 Alberta, the UBC Thunderbirds, currently the seventh-ranked women's volleyball team in Canada, will head to Kelowna this weekend to face off against the UBC Okanagan Heat.

First serve on Friday is at 6 p.m., while Saturday's rematch will commence at 5 p.m.
 
UBC defeated Alberta in five sets on Saturday to earn the split in Edmonton, after dropping Friday's series opener. The win improved UBC's record to 12-4 in Canada West league play. The team sits in fourth place in the conference standings, six points ahead of fifth-place TRU and four behind Alberta in third. The T-Birds have two games in hand on both the WolfPack and Pandas.
 
Juliana Kaufmanis (Richmond, B.C.) had 20 kills to lead UBC in Saturday's win. Danielle Brisebois (Bolton, Ont.) returned to the lineup after missing the Brandon series the week before. She continues to lead the roster in kills per set (3.63), points per set (4.4) and service aces per set. Brisebois is fourth, fifth and second in the Canada West in those categories, respectively.
 
Setter Alessandra Gentile (Port Moody, B.C.) is averaging 9.32 assists per set, which puts her third in the league.
 
Tied for first in the CIS Top 10 rankings, the 15-1 Heat are in second, two wins out of first but with two games in hand on the league leaders.
 
Okanagan is coming off a bye. The Heat are on a 10-match winning streak and their last two matches were also against Alberta, two weekends ago. UBCO swept the series 3-1 and 3-2 in Kelowna.
Katy Klomps is statistically the league's top blocker with 1.33 per set, while Emily Oxland is fifth with 9.13 assists per set.
 
Brianna Beamish is sixth in the Canada West in kills per set (3.39), points per set (4.1) and third in service aces pet set (0.52). She's also attacking at an efficient .316, good enough for third in the conference in that category. Teammate Katie Wuttunee is tied for first at .322.
 
In team statistics, both squads are evenly matched, with the Heat second, and the T-Birds third in several categories.
 
Okanagan averages 17.51 points per set, while UBC is close behind with 17.47. The Heat score 12.00 assists per set and with the Thunderbirds recording and average of 11.88. UBCO has a hitting percentage of .256, while UBC attacks at a rate of .241.