VANCOUVER - Gabrielle Attieh crushed a career-high 11 aces as her UBC Thunderbirds (10-10) cruised to a weekend sweep of the Regina Cougars (2-18) with a 3-0 win at War Memorial Gym (25-16, 25-17, 25-13).
 
Attieh stepped up to serve 31 times over three sets - adding 11 kills on a .409 hitting percentage with 6 blocks and 24.5 points in the victory. Attieh set a new three-set Canada West single-match record, and was two shy of the all-time record in the rally-point system.
 
"In three sets...I've never seen a number that high," admitted UBC head coach Doug Reimer after Attieh's stellar serving night. "Not only was she serving well, she was serving consistently and overall it helped us control the play and brought energy to our side. You don't usually get double-doubles with kills and aces."


 
Tessa Davis added six kills with five blocks and three digs for the 'Birds, while Jayde Robertsen totalled four aces with three kills and three blocks as the T-Birds racked up 19 aces as a team and remain in seventh place in the Canada West standings.
 
Emma Matheson led the Cougars with 9 kills, Diana Lumbala had six kills and seven digs, and Sierra Parris-Kruger earned 12 digs with two assists in the loss.


 
Attieh dropped three straight aces for an early 7-2 lead in the opening set, but the Cougars fought back and Brown teamed up with Lumbala for a big block to make it a three-point set at 13-10. Lumbala then snuck a tip past the UBC block and came up with another kill to tie it up at 13-13. Attieh earned solo block to send the T-Birds into the technical timeout up 16-14 before crushing another ace for a 19-16 lead. Attieh's fifth ace of the set widened the UBC lead to 22-16, forcing a Regina timeout, before the 'Birds claimed the set on a Regina net violation and their sixth consecutive point.

?? WVB | @ubcwvb1 takes set 2 over @ReginaCougars 2-0 (25-17) here at War Memorial Gym. #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/mzrmg8E3Ea

— UBC Thunderbirds / @UBCTBirds (@ubctbirds) February 2, 2020

 
Robertsen served up back-to-back aces early in the second set as the home squad continued to dominate from the service line. Attieh's sixth and seventh aces of the match put UBC up 10-5 and forced another Cougars timeout. Robertsen and Davis earned a block at 13-5 before Regina went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to two on a strong serving run by Brittany Rousseaux. Davis ended a long rally to go up 22-17 before assisting Robertsen on another block at 23-17. Attieh continued her impressive serving performance with another ace and kill to take the second set 25-17.
 
Cara Kovacs flew in for a back row kill for a 9-6 edge in the third set and Attieh's eleventh ace made it a 16-6 UBC lead at the technical timeout. Courtney Hillier joined Attieh for a block to give the 'Birds a set point that they converted at 25-13.


 
"There's obviously a lot of room for improvement," said Reimer as his team prepares for the final playoff push. "We know the first round of the playoffs will be against one of the top few teams, so I think it's important to earn two straight wins like we did this weekend."
 
Next up for the Thunderbirds is a trip to Kelowna to face the tenth-place UBCO Heat (6-14), while Regina hosts the second-place Mount Royal Cougars (16-3) as the Canada West regular season winds down.