VANCOUVER – In the first of the Canada West semifinal matches on Friday night at UBC Okanagan, the hometown Heat women's volleyball team won the last three sets to earn a come-from-behind 3-1 (22-25, 25-17, 26-24, 25-22) win over the UBC Thunderbirds.
 
In last year's Final Four competition, the Thunderbirds bounced the Heat from the playoffs in the bronze medal game. This year, the Heat flipped the script and, with the win, UBCO earned a berth to the Canada West gold medal match tomorrow, where they will face either the Trinity Western Spartans or the Alberta Pandas, depending on the outcome of the other semifinal tonight.
 
With their place in the final guaranteed, the Heat also locked in a trip to the CIS national championships, the first in program history.
 
The T-Birds will play for the bronze medal, and the third Canada West spot in the national championships, tomorrow evening, as they will take on the loser of the Pandas/Spartans semi.
 
UBC Okanagan Mikasa Player of the Match was fourth-year outside hitter Megan Festival. Setter Alessandra Gentile (Port Moody, B.C.) was the Thunderbird Mikasa Player of the Match.
 
UBC Okanagan's efficiency in the service game proved to be the difference in the win over the 'Birds, as the Heat spun for 10 aces, compared to just two for UBC. That stat stands in stark contrast to the regular season, where the T-Birds led the conference with 2.35 aces-per-set.
 
The Heat had two players hit double digits in kills, with Festival earning 14 (.270) and Brianna Beamish notching 11 (.184). Both Beamish and Festival dropped a pair of aces, as did setter Emily Oxland.
 
UBC's Danielle Brisebois (Bolton, Ont.) finished with a match-high 21 kills (.268), while sophomore Laura MacTaggart (Lacombe, Alta.) bagged 14 (.154) of the T-Birds 59 kills in the match. UBC Okanagan finished the night with a 0.182 attack percentage, and UBC finished hitting 0.209.
 
The Heat were also able to out-block the visiting UBC squad 12-9.
 
The Thunderbirds took the opening set 25-22, after jumping out to an early 6-1 lead on a string of passing and hitting errors by UBC Okanagan. At the technical time-out, the Thunderbirds led by two, 16-14. The 'Birds carried that two-point lead to a 24-22 margin, before a Brisebois kill ended the frame.
 
Beamish led all hitters with eight kills in the opening set, though Heat never led in the frame.
 
UBC Okanagan took the second set 25-17. The Heat jumped out to a strong early lead in the second frame, doubling UBC 14-7 early. UBC Okanagan led 16-9 at the technical time-out, and rode that lead to the set win.
 
Laura MacTaggart (Lacombe, Alta.) had 11 kills through the first two sets to lead the Thunderbirds attack at that point.
 
UBC Okanagan took the third set 26-24, despite the T-Birds taking an early 5-0 lead in the stanza, and leading 16-13 at the technical time-out. The Heat tied the set up at 17-17, and took their first lead 18-17, after a run of strong defensive play, and three kills in four points from Festival.
 
Following back-and-forth play, and a point against UBC for being out of rotation, the Heat took the set in extra points on a smart tip from Festival.
 
Brisebois had seven kills in the frame for the Thunderbirds.
 
UBC Okanagan took the fourth set 25-22. The Heat led 16-13 at the technical time-out, and Beamish forced another time-out from the Thunderbirds immediately with a strong first-touch kill to put the Heat up 17-13.
 
An ace from Kaitlynn Givenn gave the 'Birds the final set, and the match.