EDMONTON - The University of Alberta Pandas defeated the UBC Thunderbirds 3-1 (25-18, 25-14, 18-25, 25-18), winning their 11th Canada West Championship Saturday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton.
 
UBC's Laura MacTaggart tied Alberta's Meg Casault for the match-high with 15 kills, also adding seven digs and one block. Maggie Li and Juliana Kaufmanis finished with 11 kills each for the T-Birds.

Hard fought battle but @BearsandPandas take it in 4 sets (25-18, 25-14, 18-25, 25-18.). Congrats to both teams heading to nationals! pic.twitter.com/X1wDwdposp

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) March 12, 2017

 
Alberta carried the play early, scoring a 25-18 first-set win.
 
That momentum stayed with Alberta, as they opened the second set on a 7-1 run. The offensive surge forced UBC coach Doug Reimer to call a timeout. The short break paid off, as a pair of Kaufmanis kills sparked a 5-2 UBC run. However, Alberta's early lead proved too much to overcome, cruising to a 25-14 set win.
 
UBC was the only team to defeat Alberta in conference play, doing so twice this season in Vancouver, and that version of the T-Birds showed up in the third. Four quick kills by MacTaggart and Kaufmanis gave the visitors an early 8-5 lead. Another 8-5 run later on all but sealed the set for UBC. Four straight points starting at 21-18 gave UBC their first set win, 25-18.

Great things that happened this weekend (in this order): 1. Coach Doug 2. Canada West Silver & a trip to nationals!

A post shared by UBC Women's Volleyball (@ubcwvb) on Mar 11, 2017 at 8:58pm PST

 
However, the Pandas returned to form in set four. Four kills from Casault, paced the Pandas to a 25-18 win.
 
Both teams will now move on to the U SPORTS championships at Ryerson University in Toronto on March 16-18. Canada West has accounted for 10 of the past 11 national women's volleyball champions.