VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (1-0) came back from a set down to defeat the Calgary Dinos (0-1) 3-1 (26-28, 25-19, 25-17, 25-20) in a tight four-set battle at War Memorial Gym on the opening night of their 2026-27 Canada West season.
"I think overall we were out of sync in a lot of areas and way too passive at times," said head coach
Doug Reimer. "We were trying to be quite careful and avoid the errors as opposed to getting after it. So I am pleased when we start that way but are able to turn it around."
After dropping a tight opening set, the T-Birds responded with dominant scoring runs in the second and third to take a 2-1 lead before closing out the match with a fourth set win.
"
Mackenzie Campbell came in in the second set, and I think she probably had about a six or seven-point serving run, serving nice spots," added Reimer. "Things started to get better, and we started to get a little bit more in sync. When Calgary were in system they gave us lots of problems, but we handled that. And you can see in that fourth set there, they're battling every point."
Aimee Skinner led UBC with an impressive 16 kills with a .429 attacking percentage and five aces, while
Akash Grewal contributed 10 kills with only two errors for a .444 attacking percentage.
Jocelyn Lenarcic,
Elizabeth Lee, and
Ella Ungemach each added seven kills.
For the visitors, Julia Tuckwood recorded a team-high 12 kills. Jasmine Chretien contributed five kills and two aces, and teammate Christine Abu had seven kills and an ace.
A Lenarcic block gave UBC a 16-12 lead in the opening set, forcing a Dinos timeout, but the Dinos battled back to even the score at 18-18 on a double block from Narelle Arnold and Tuckwood. Lenarcic put the 'Birds on set point at 24-23 with a short set hit, but Calgary rallied to take the set 28-26 on a Komori-Blanke double block.
The two teams traded points in the opening minutes of set two before UBC went on a 7-0 scoring run finished by a Campbell service ace at 19-15. The hosts continued to earn consistent points, highlighted by a Campbell ace and a Lee cross-court kill, before Ungemach took it home 25-19 with a rocket of an ace.
The third set remained tight until a Lenarcic finish sparked another dominant run, with the T-Birds scoring nine unanswered points to take a 14-7 lead capped by a Grewal kill and Skinner ace. Skinner later finished a wild rally with a down-the-line kill to make it 20-14, and the 'Birds closed out the set 25-17 to take the lead.
Skinner gave the 'Birds a slight edge in the fourth set, and the hosts maintained their lead before pulling ahead by five at 23-18 on a signature Grewal service ace and kills from Skinner and Lee. Skinner set up set point, and a Dinos attacking error sealed the 25-20 win for the hosts.
The T-Birds and Dinos meet again Saturday, October 24, at 5:45 p.m. (PT) at War Memorial Gym.
