VANCOUVER – The U SPORTS No.1-ranked UBC Thunderbirds (12-2) look like their dominant selves again this weekend, picking up a second straight 3-0 (25-10, 25-21, 25-10) win over the No.8-ranked Thompson Rivers WolfPack on Saturday at War Memorial Gym.
The T-Birds got most of their points in both the first and third set on single runs, spanning 13 and 14 points, powered by the serving of
Issy Robertshaw and
Trinity Solecki respectively. The second set was tight throughout, with a late four-point run from UBC being the difference.
"In the first set Issy got on such a run, these things happen in sport, she served great and we played great around her and built a huge lead. In set three Trinity did the same thing with a great serving run," reflected UBC head coach
Doug Reimer. "Set two was like a different match, where I thought we showed a lot, showed some growth from the previous weekend. TRU had come back, probably had more momentum, but I felt that our team held tough there to pull it out and I thought that was a really good sign."
Individually, Rida Erlalelitepe was the weapon of choice for TRU, leading her team and tying for the match-high with 11 kills. Hadley Schmidt had 14 assists, a block, and her side's only ace.
UBC was led by the 11 kills of
Lucy Borowski. Solecki had five aces, four of them in the 14-point third set run. Robertshaw had four aces while leading all players with 27 assists and nine digs.
"I thought Issy had a really good weekend," mused Reimer. "Her defense and blocking were really good. She did a nice job running the offence. Overall, I think all of our middle blockers,
Emelie Silovs in particular, had a great weekend. She did a great job blocking and contributed offensively."
It was a dream start for the home side, as the Wolfpack began the match with Schmidt's ace before the T-Birds went on an incredible run behind the serving of veteran setter Robertshaw. The 'Birds put up point after point, with the 'Pack twice trying to stimy the UBC onslaught with timeouts at 6-1 and 9-1, but to no avail. It wasn't until UBC had ripped off 13 straight points, including a pair of aces, before Robertshaw finally made a service error to end the amazing streak, giving the 'Birds most of their points for the set on their first turn serving. The lead was too much for TRU to overcome as UBC cruised to a 25-10 win.
The second set also started off looking one-sided, with the T-Birds jumping out to a 5-0 lead, once again behind Robertshaw's serving. This time however, the 'Pack's first timeout did turn the tide and they used a four-point run, highlighted by a monster kill from dominant first-year and Turkish national team member Erlalelitepe, to bring the lead down to 10-9. From there, the 'Birds simply could not pull away from the 'Pack with TRU answering point after point until the set reached 21-21. That's when
Akash Grewal stepped up for UBC, starting and finishing a four-point run with an explosive kill to give the T-Birds a 25-21 win.
The third set started off as a back-and-forth battle, tied 4-4, before the T-Birds somehow outdid their remarkable first set run by ripping off 14 straight points behind the strong serving of Solecki. She showed pinpoint precision by grazing the back line on several serves, earning four aces in the frame as she powered her team to an insurmountable advantage. Both teams had a chance to give their bench some run down the stretch as UBC pulled away with another 25-10 win to sweep the match and take all six sets of the weekend series.
"Give our team a lot of credit, I thought that overall that was one of our best matches of the year in a number of different areas," praised Reimer. "I thought our defence and blocking were pretty solid and I think we put a lot of pressure on them in those respects. We also limited unforced errors generally. When all of those pieces come together, it feels really good."
Next up for the WolfPack, a four-game homestand to finish the regular season. The 'Pack host the Mount Royal Cougars for two games at the Tournament Capital Centre next weekend before ending with a back-to-back against the Brandon Bobcats.
The T-Birds take one more road trip with a massive U SPORTS Championship game rematch against the Alberta Pandas on tap next weekend. They finish by returning home for another tough two-game test against their co-conference leaders, the UFV Cascades.
