VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (2-0) secured a 3-0 (25-18, 25-19, 25-22) victory over the Calgary Dinos (0-2) on Saturday evening at War Memorial Gym. On the opening weekend of the 2026-27 Canada West season, the 'Birds were pushed in both matches, but put forward two strong performances to close out the series with a sweep.
"At this point of the year, there's always going to be lots of things to work on," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer. "I know we had stretches where we didn't serve well, but I thought we did a much better job out of the gate creating service pressure and hitting the right zones. Calgary battled hard."
Kylee Glanville led the 'Birds with 12 kills and four aces,
Aimee Skinner had eight kills with three aces, while
Akash Grewal and
Jocelyn Lenarcic added six and five kills respectively.
For the visitors, Leni Blanke contributed 10 kills, and Narelle Arnold had five kills with three aces. Jasmine Chretien and Julia Tuckwood put up four kills each.
The teams traded points early in the first set until Glanville carried a strong serving run to a 11-6 advantage. The T-Birds continued to a 18-14 edge off a
Ella Ungemach kill, and two successful Skinner attacks fueled UBC to a 25-18 set.
The 'Birds started the second set strong with a huge Ungemach kill and a couple of Calgary errors leading to an immediate 7-1 run. Blanke went cross court to bring the Dinos within four at 20-16, however UBC would not break. Glanville blocked the visitors for set point and the blue and gold took the second on a Dinos service error, 25-19.
Grewal scored from left side to pressure the Dinos and help build another early set lead in the third at 7-3, but Calgary responded. Blanke went cross court to close the gap to just a point before an Arnold ace tied the set at 11-11. The score remained close until UBC pulled ahead to earn set point on a Grewal kill, and a Dinos error handed them the match at 25-22, earning a straight sets victory and series sweep at War Memorial Gym.
Between sets two and three, the Thunderbirds women's volleyball program named
Bronwyn Ettinger as recipient of this year's Amanjit Pare Memorial Scholarship. Ettinger had a warm moment with Pare's family upon the honour being announced. The bursary supports a player who exhibits the passion and dedication epitomized by the beloved former team manager for whom it is named.
Next weekend, the Thunderbirds travel to Saskatchewan to play the Huskies on Friday, October 30 at 5:00 pm (PT) and Saturday, October 31 at 1:00 pm (PT).
"U of S has a pretty veteran team and a good team. So we'll start watching videotape tomorrow to see what they're bringing," added Reimer, looking ahead to next weekend's matchup. "Volleyball is very much a game where you have to be able to apply pressure. There were times where we were too tentative serving, or made big errors. So next week we're looking to apply that pressure, adapt to new setters, new hitters, a new offense. That's the goal."
The Dinos next play the UBCO Heat at home for a pair of games on November 6 and November 7.
