SASKATOON – The No. 8-ranked UBC Thunderbirds completed a weekend sweep of the Saskatchewan Huskies with a 3-2 (22-25, 25-22, 20-25, 25-12, 15-10) win Saturday night at the PAC in Saskatoon.
 
With the pair of victories, UBC opens the Canada West women's volleyball season 2-0. Saskatchewan is 0-2 after the weekend.
 
Tied at 20, Saskatchewan took the lead in the first set after three T-Bird attack errors in a row. A service error returned the ball to UBC and a Ciara Hanly ace put the T-Birds back within one at 23-22. But a Mackenzie Pek dump and Emily Humbert attack from the middle closed out the set 25-22. 
 
Saskatchewan pulled out with a four-point lead to being the second set but UBC quickly found their attack and took the lead at 15-14 on a Hanly and Siobhan Finan block. UBC continued to control the set to the 25-22 win.
 


Similar to the second set, Saskatchewan pulled to a 4-0 lead before the T-Birds crawled back in. Trading points back-and-forth, the Huskies took a 19-18 lead on a Emmalyn Copping attack. The Huskies maintained control of the set winning 25-20.
 
UBC pulled out to a large 11-4 lead in the fourth set and never looked back winning 25-12.
 
Tied at eight in the fifth and deciding set, the T-Birds took the lead on a Saskatchewan error. UBC's attacks continued to fall into the Huskies court and allowed Saskatchewan to score just twice more. A Danielle Brisebois attack that froze the backline ended the match.
 
Brisebois led the T-Birds with 20 kills on the night, while Maggie Li and Victoria Behie each recorded 10. Setter Alessandra Gentile tallied a team-high 13 digs and 43 assists.
 
Emmalyn Copping recorded 15 kills for Saskatchewan. Taylor Annala, Humbert and Sabrina Balisky each recorded another seven. Pek led the team with 10 digs.
 
UBC returns home to host the Winnipeg Wesmen, while the Huskies travel to Edmonton to meet the MacEwan Griffins.