EDMONTON – The UBC Thunderbirds are off to the 2019 U SPORTS national championship final after a four-set semifinal win Saturday night (25-20, 22-25, 25-16, 25-21) over the Dalhousie Tigers at the University of Alberta's Saville Centre.
The T-Birds used a balanced attack with five different players recording at least five kills to advance to their second gold medal match in the last three years. UBC will face the defending champion Ryerson Rams in Sunday's final which now features the last two gold medal winning teams.
2019 U SPORTS Player of the Year
Kiera Van Ryk led the match with 15 kills and 17 digs, while veteran
Tessa Davis was named Player of the Match with 12 kills and a match-high four service aces.
After the two teams split the first two sets, the T-Birds found another gear, easily taking the third set, 25-16 before holding off a desperate Dalhousie squad in the fourth. The 'Birds are now 3-0 against the Tigers at national championships having also defeated the Tigers last year in a five-set quarter-final battle.
"To me the key thing was in the third set we were still a little bit out of rhythm and we got it back and gave ourselves a chance to get a couple of service runs going," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer who will appear in his 12th gold medal match. "Tessa and Danae (Shephard) did that and so did
Laura Worsley. I give Dalhousie some credit, they could've gone away when we were up 20-13 in the fourth and they battled back, but we hung in there well enough to get the win."
Much like UBC's quarterfinal on Friday, the first set was extremely tight from the get-go with the Tigers holding a one-point edge at the technical timeout.
The 'Birds then went on a quick 7-0 run to go up 22-16, including back-to-back power kills from
Ciara Hanly and Van Ryk to take control of the opening frame, igniting the large UBC fan contingent in the stands at the Saville Centre main court.
UBC closed out the first set with Van Ryk's fourth kill of the match. Captain
Victoria Behie led all players on the court in the opening frame with five kills while
Olivia Furlan had 12 assists.
The second set started much like the first before Dalhousie went on a mini-roll to take a 16-13 lead at the timeout.
Reimer activated his bench to shake things up with the 'Birds down by four, and UBC battled back to take a 20-19 lead thanks to a combination of a strong attack and some Dalhousie errors. The Tigers were able to bounce back, however, and finished off the set with three straight points to take it 25-22 creating a best-of-three to determine who would advance to Sunday's final.
The third set opened with another close start until the 'Birds took a 10-8 lead on Van Ryk's second service ace of the match, forcing Dalhousie head coach Rick Scott to burn a timeout.
UBC continued their strong serving and Furlan perfectly placed the ball just inside the corner for her second ace of the night as the 'Birds entered the technical timeout up 16-10. UB C only built on their lead from there, closing it out 25-16 on a Furlan setter dump to bring the T-Birds one set away from the gold medal match.
The 'Birds started the fourth right where they left off, getting out to a quick 4-1 lead. Perhaps inspired with their backs against the wall, the Tigers battled back hard, going up 7-5, including a pair of Courtney Baker aces. A Reimer timeout call worked for the 'Birds who struck back with two straight points.
UBC then started to get on another roll, taking a 14-9 advantage with Davis leading the charge both on the attack and at the service line.
"She competed really hard yesterday as well, she's a gamer," Reimer said of Davis' tournament thus far. "She comes with a good compete level and gets after it and it's helping us without question."
Just like the third set, UBC held a 16-10 lead at the technical timeout with the Tigers season hanging in the balance. The AUS champions pulled within two points, down 23-21, but after a Tigers attacking error it was Davis who earned the clinching point for the 'Birds with her fourth ace of the match.
Despite coming into the tournament as the eighth seed, the T-Birds have now knocked off two conference champions in the number one Trinity Western Spartans and now the fourth-seeded Dalhousie Tigers and will now face yet another powerhouse on Sunday.
"It's almost going to come down to how well we can prepare on little rest and be able to execute the things we do well to the best of our ability," said Reimer. "You've now just got to bring the best stuff you can and hope it's enough."
Sunday's final against the Rams is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. PT at the Saville Centre as UBC competes for their 12th national championship banner.
