CALGARY – The Cougars were unable to shut down the Thunderbirds on Kenyon Court for a second straight night as the No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds (10-2) earned the weekend sweep with a five set victory (25-22, 25-17, 17-25, 12-25, 15-12).

After suffering a straight sets loss the night before, the Cougars were unable to defeat the Thunderbirds after taking them the distance.

The Thunderbirds had a strong offence with a total of 57 kills, 13 of which came from Kiera Van Ryk. Anna Price and Olivia Furlan both also racked up a total of 12 kills. The Cougars' Alex Donaghy led in offence with a total of 13 out of the team's 48 kills. The Cougars had better luck finding the court on their serves with a serving percentage of .931.

Hungry for vengeance after Friday's loss, the Cougars came out ready to play in the second match against the Thunderbirds. The first set started very even between the two teams. The set went point for point, neither team being able to pull ahead by more than two points. At the technical timeout, the Thunderbirds had a slight advantage leading 16-14.



Following the technical timeout, the Cougars had a hard time keeping the ball in the court, missing serves and attacks. They called a timeout when they fell behind 20-16. Struggling to regain control of the serve the Cougars called another timeout when the Thunderbirds extended their lead 23-18. The Thunderbirds took their lead to the end winning the set on a kill from the middle from Ciara Hanly.

The Cougars kept things very close for the first half of the second set going into the technical timeout only down by one, 15-16. It was after the timeout that they struggled to keep up with the Thunderbirds who slowly pulled ahead after a serving run from Olivia Furlan.

For the first time, the Cougars took the early lead in the third set. With massive attacks from Alex Donaghy, the Cougars quickly led 6-2 but the Thunderbirds fought back bringing it back to a one-point game. The Cougars were strong on defense blocking the Thunderbirds attacks and the home side pulled off the win on an ace from Chantal Park for a final score of 25-17.

The Thunderbirds had a hard time keeping their attacks in the court in the fourth set as they fought to close a five-point gap. But Davies went on a serving run which included two aces, taking the Cougars lead to 16-9 at the technical timeout before taking the set 25-12 forcing the Thunderbirds to a fifth.



After the 'Birds took a 7-2 lead, the Cougars were able to fight back within one point and after a triple block, they tied the game at nine. After a dump from a Thunderbirds setter, they regained their lead and won the match on a kill from Kiera Van Ryk.

"This is what we expected from the Cougars," said third-year UBC left side Anna Price. "They always come out strong on night two, and we knew they were going to test us. It took everything in us to finish with the win. We really worked as a team in those final moments which helped bring our victory."

The Thunderbirds enter the holiday break on a four-match win streak and tied with the Calgary Dinos for top spot in the Canada West. The 'Birds are next in action January 5 and 6 when they host the Manitoba Bisons at War Memorial Gym.