The No. 5-ranked UBC Thunderbirds will play for bronze after falling 3-1 to the No. 1-ranked Trinity Western Spartans in the semifinals of the 2016 CIS Women's Volleyball Championship on Saturday night in Brandon, Man.
The final set scores read: 25-23, 23-25, 21-25, 19-25.
"Trinity is a very good team, and I still feel that we were right there with them," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer after the match. "Last night, we won some of those key points over Montreal because we did a bit more – tonight, it was Trinity that did a bit more in those key moments. We battled hard, but we didn't battle consistently enough to get the result."
Danielle Brisebois (Bolton, Ont.) was a force for the T-Birds all game long, knocking down a game-high 23 kills to go along with seven digs and an ace.
"Danielle had a phenomenal game for us offensively," said Reimer of his star outside hitter.
The 'Birds also got big contributions from
Alissa Coulter (Calgary) and
Juliana Kaufmanis (Richmond, B.C.), who notched 11 and 10 kills, respectively, while each picking up 10 digs.
For Trinity, it was their dominant pair of outside attackers who led the way, as Sophie Carpentier paced the squad with 16 kills and three aces, while Elizabeth Wendel had 14 kills in the win. Katelyn Devaney was also key, adding eight kills and a pair of aces.
Brisebois was a nightmare for Trinity Western to handle early in the opening frame, as the six-footer smashed five kills en route to the 'Birds holding a 16-12 lead by the technical timeout.
Coming out of the break, the Spartans flipped a switch, and stormed back to tie it up at 18-18. The two teams went shot-for-shot in the final portion of the frame, but the 'Birds found themselves at set point, up 24-22 after a brilliant double block from Kaufmanis and Hanly stymied a Wendel kill shot.
Two points later, Kaufmanis ended the frame herself with a bullet kill that the Spartans weren't able to corral.
The second set a near perfect copy of the first, just in reverse – the Spartans led 16-13 at the technical timeout, only for the 'Birds to claw their way back and equalize 18-18.
The two sides traded shots in the latter part of the frame, but Trinity Western slowly built up a 24-21 advantage. Though the 'Birds cut into that lead with two points of their own, the Spartans on a kill from Carpentier.
The third set had a slightly different script – the Spartans flew out of the gate to the tune of a 6-1 advantage. Then, behind a pair of kills apiece from Coulter and Brisebois, as well as an ace from the latter, the 'Birds came back to tie it at 11-11.
Down 21-18, the 'Birds got two kills from Brisebois and one from Hanly to pull within one. Then, Carpentier and Devaney got back-to-back kills for the Spartans, before a Brisebois attacking error gave them the set.
A pair of key kills from Wendel got the Spartans out to a blistering start in the fourth set, as they found themselves up 9-2 just minutes in. The 'Birds did well to recover, closing the gap to 13-11 before Trinity Western stretched it to four by the technical timeout, up 16-12.
The two sides went back-and-forth in the final portion of the set, but despite a pair of Kaufmanis kills, the 'Birds weren't able to push any closer to the Spartans. Trinity Western ended the set on a 3-0 run that saw Carpentier and Devaney, with two, each pick up kills.
The 'Birds will square off against another Canada West rival, the UBC Okanagan Heat, in the Bronze Medal match, which is slated to get underway at 5:00 p.m. (PT) tomorrow, March 12.
