VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (15-4) defeated the conference-second UFV Cascades (16-3) in three hard-fought sets (25-20, 28-26, 25-19) on Friday night at War Memorial Gym.
"First and foremost, since this is our fourth weekend in a row of playing a top team, we learned that if we just play with some composure and bring our best play, then good things happen," said UBC head coach Doug Reimer. "There was no one player or aspect that stood out throughout, but it was just our ability after giving up a few points to come back or to push a lead. Overall, I thought we served and passed well enough and we got good contributions from a number of players, including some outside our starting group. Nothing magical, but it was great for us to settle down after last Saturday when we didn't play our best."
Lucy Borowski led the Thunderbirds with 13 kills and 11 digs, Akash Grewal added 11 kills and an ace, and Emma Doyon put up five kills.
Mandi Feist had a game-high 14 kills, two aces, and six digs for the Cascades, Talia Attieh tallied 13 kills and seven digs, and Lauren Attieh earned six kills and nine digs.
The highly anticipated top-table matchup started close, as expected, with several opportunities for the blue and gold to pull ahead with Grewal at the service line. After winning back the serve on an unforced UFV error, a massive Doyon block and a Trinity Solecki ace powered UBC to a three-point lead. Grewal and Doyon added kills down the line, forcing Cascades coach Janelle Rozema to call a timeout at 11-6 UBC. It seemed as though UFV might close the gap after the break, but Grewal delivered another kill to stifle the comeback. The Thunderbirds maintained their advantage, pulling ahead by four points before closing out the set on a UFV attacking error, 25-20.
UFV came out strong in the second set, quickly building a four-point lead, but UBC fought back to even the score. On Grewal's second rotation at the service line, the 'Birds looked poised to take control, but an attacking error gave ball possession back to UFV. UBC called their first timeout of the set, trailing 16-14 after a Mandi Feist kill. Following the break, the Thunderbirds went on a four-point run, highlighted by a short cross-court kill by Doyon and a Borowski shot from behind the attacking line to put UBC ahead 18-16. UFV tied it at 19-all, and the teams traded points until the end. Kylee Glanville earned set point for the hosts, and several plays later, UBC secured the set 28-26.
The third set began with two UBC blocks sandwiched by a Cascades error, giving the Thunderbirds their largest lead of the match so far at 8-5. After a timeout, UFV managed to pull the score back to even, where it remained for much of the frame. It wasn't until the final moments that UBC pulled ahead to solidify the win. Borowski earned a point off a big jumping tip, while Grewal fired two strong cross-court kills, pushing the T-Birds to a 22-18 lead. The match ended on a Cascades attacking error, with UBC taking the set 25-19 and securing the sweep.
"We're on the right track, but today's results don't matter that much for tomorrow," added Reimer. "I've seen UFV in certain aspects play a little bit better, so we better prepare, like we did for them today, to bring our best game."
The two teams will cap off the regular season with the second of their two-game series on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. (PT).
