WINNIPEG – Less than 24 hours after an exhausting semifinal battle against the Manitoba Bisons, the UBC Thunderbirds put forth an equally commendable effort against the Alberta Pandas as they fought for bronze. Unfortunately, the result was another fiery four-set defeat (25-21, 28-30, 25-22, 25-18).
 
The bid for a three-peat may have come up short, but Thunderbirds head coach Doug Reimer believes his team more than deserves to hold their heads high after a season that featured plenty of roster turnover from the previous year, a rolling list of injuries, and incredibly tough Canada West competition.
 
"One of the things I told the team [during the Manitoba match], is that it's not that often that I can remember myself saying, in the middle of a match, that I'm really proud of a team, proud of their effort," remarked Reimer. "I think that semifinal, even though it was a loss, we really left it all out there."
 
"I think in time, when they reflect back, despite not winning a championship we accomplished a lot, and this was not an easy conference to get out of this year. I think we showed that we remain a very strong program and we have a lot of character and culture within our group."


 
The growth that the T-Birds have shown over the season was on full display in the bronze medal match, as all 14 active players saw the court in at least one of the four sets, including three first-years. Third-year outside hitter Kylee Glanville made a massive impact off the bench, recording 13 kills and nine digs while leading the team in attack attempts.
 
"Our bench was a lot longer today, and I thought a lot of people stepped up and played really well," added Reimer. "And it wasn't just to give them playing experience, I think they were earning their court time."

On the other end of the experience spectrum, fifth-year outside hitter Trinity Solecki earned the Player of the Game honour for UBC as she put up 14 kills, 11 digs and four blocks in her final performance as a Thunderbird. Reimer was effusive in his praise for the talent and resiliency shown by her and the other two graduating players – Olivia Furlan (six digs and two assists) and Emma Doyon (two kills, three digs and six blocks).

"Liv, who is playing in her very first year as a libero, did an incredible job making that transition while managing an injury the last month and a half or two months. Trinity has battled a long way through shoulder and foot issues, and Emma missed the vast majority of this season and worked really hard to rehab and come back. I thought all three of them really contributed this weekend so they should feel good about how they finished."



In the match itself, the Thunderbirds held a 15-12 lead in the middle portion of the first set. However, the Pandas took over after calling a timeout, surging out in front and closing out the set on a 13-6 run to draw first blood.

The T-Birds responded with a comeback of their own in the second, after they found themselves down 23-20 late on. Glanville got the rally started with a kill on the outside, followed by a powerful back row swing from Solecki that forced an Alberta timeout.

That stoppage in play did not serve to ice the server, as Akash Grewal immediately landed an ace to tie the score. Driving past the 25-point barrier, the blue and gold had a series of set points fought off by the Pandas before Solecki finally ended things with an ace at 30-28.



Again, the T-Birds found themselves trailing in the third set, down 11-7 before Grewal landed a kill and then put forward an incredible service run with three straight aces, pinging the ball all across the Pandas' side of the court.

Leonora Barbulovich-Nad showed off her moves later in the set, diving to the court for a dig before a few attacks later tapping down a kill on a ball that floated up over the net, tying the score at 19. Unfortunately for the T-Birds, it was the Pandas who rallied late, scoring three straight points after the two teams were again knotted at 22 apiece.

The two teams were impossible to separate in the fourth until a late push by Alberta that turned a slim 17-16 advantage into a 25-18 final set victory.



While it was not the result that the Thunderbirds were hoping for heading into the weekend, they certainly showed the talent that's littered throughout the roster as they went blow for blow with the best U SPORTS has to offer.

"Hopefully whether they had a lot of court time or not, it's important to get in this environment and see what it takes," said Reimer, speaking on the younger players on the squad. "So hopefully there's learning there…it doesn't get easier so the challenge is that you gotta make sure we're always getting better. But that's for another day."