VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds defeated the Trinity Western Spartans 3-1 (21-25, 25-13, 25-22, 25-18) on Saturday night in front of a great atmosphere and 1,497 fans for Pride Night at War Memorial Gym to sweep the home-and-home series. With the win, the T-Birds improved to 18-4 while the Spartans fall to 13-9 with just one more weekend of games to follow in the Canada West schedule.
Similar to the third set the fourth frame was also fairly close until Thunderbirds fourth-year outside hitter Victoria Behie came thru with two consecutive kills to extend the lead to 21-16 which allowed the hosts to not look back. The 'Birds would cruise to a 24-17 advantage before second-year middle Gabrielle Attieh would secure match point with the final of her eight kills on the night.
The T-Birds got out to a spirited start with first-year left side
Kiera Van Ryk delivering two straight emphatic kills to open the scoring while fifth year setter Alessandra Gentille followed up shortly after with a service ace making it 4-3. The T-Birds would enjoy an 8-5 advantage before Trinity battled back for a 12-10 lead courtesy of Kristin Anton's big kill which caused 'Birds head coach
Doug Reimer to call a timeout. The Spartans would stay in the lead however courtesy of three more kills from Anton who finished with nine in the match while Avery Heppell chipped in with two of her three total kills. Hillary Howe also stepped up with a key block to keep TWU in front 17-14 and it was Howe again minutes later at set point with one of her three kills in the set and overall team high 14 on the night to seal the opener 21-25. UBC finding themselves on the wrong side of the scoreline despite second-year setter
Olivia Furlan managing seven of her team high 14 kills on the evening.
The Thunderbirds responded with a much sharper second set highlighted by Furlan stringing together four straight service aces to put UBC in front 9-5 and causing Spartans head coach Ryan Hofer to call a timeout. Third-year left side Anna Price would come through with one of her three kills in the frame before another Van Ryk kill led to another TWU timeout when trailing 12-5. The 'Birds would ride an efficient team hitting percentage of .364 in the set to a 24-12 lead ahead of Behie delivering the set point kill, one of her seven on the night.
The third set proved to be a much closer back and forth affair before second-year middle Gabrielle Attieh helped turn the tide in the hosts favor with a savvy setter dump followed up by a kill and a 20-19 lead. Fourth-year middle Ciara Hanly helped out with one of her six kills on the night helping secure the 25-22 set victory.
Thunderbirds head coach Doug Reimer likes how his team is trending at the right time of the season.
"None of these games are easy and the balance is really fine but that's why I like where this group is at," said Reimer. "I give our squad a lot of credit for continuing to fight hard, take the fourth set as an example. We built a bit of a lead and we gave it all away and then we recovered and played well again to close it out. For our team to have success in the playoffs we're going to have to do that in different ways every night."
Also standing out for the Spartans was Katelyn Devaney and Micaylee Pucilowski with six kills each while Brie O'Reilly had a game high 36 assists. For the T-Birds it was Furlan with a team high in both kills with 14, and service aces with six. Van Ryk finished with 12 kills and seven digs, while Gentille picked up a team high 26 helpers.
The Spartans next travel to meet the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack next weekend while the Thunderbirds host the Saskatchewan Huskies at War Memorial Gym next Friday and Saturday.
Â
