VANCOUVER – After dispatching the UFV Cascades in their best-of-three quarterfinal series, the Thunderbirds now face a murderer's row in the Canada West Final Four.
The two-day tournament runs this Friday and Saturday in Edmonton, and features four teams in the top seven of the U SPORTS national rankings. Sporting a combined 19-3 record between the regular season and playoffs, the T-Birds enter the Final Four as the No. 2 seed and will face off against No. 3 Trinity Western (17-5) in the second semifinal on Friday night. Hosts Alberta (20-2) take on Thompson Rivers (16-7) in the other semifinal.
The Thunderbirds, Pandas and Spartans all swept their respective quarterfinal series, while the WolfPack prevailed in three matches over the Manitoba Bisons, eliminating the defending national champions and ending their season.
"This is as tough of a Final Four that I've seen," remarked UBC head coach
Doug Reimer on the squads converging on Edmonton this weekend. "When I look at the other three teams I see a lot of great players, and teams that are playing very good volleyball right now too. They have not eked their way into the Final Four in any stretch of the imagination."
All four teams have already qualified for the 2026 U SPORTS Women's Volleyball Championship by virtue of it being hosted by Trinity Western, meaning that the sole focus of each squad will be to claim the conference crown.
The Thunderbirds played their semifinal opponent twice back in the middle of November, beating the Spartans both times. That included a four-set win on the road in Langley, followed the next week by a five-set thriller at home.
Kaylee Plouffe and Maryn Boldon combined for an incredible 49 kills and 17 digs for Trinity Western in that most recent matchup, and the two of them had fantastic seasons overall, both being named Canada West First Team All-Stars.
Lucy Borowski, UBC's lone all-star representative, is coming off a strong playoff-opening weekend against UFV where she compiled a total of 30 kills, nine digs and five aces between the two matches. The 2024 U SPORTS Women's Volleyball Championship MVP is a proven performer when the lights are the brightest, and will continue to be leaned on as a leader in the final postseason run of her Thunderbirds career.
It's not just the stars that will be counted on to shine this weekend, however, as the blue and gold have used a fairly deep rotation for much of the season. All four of
Aimee Skinner,
Mackenzie Campbell,
Ella Ungemach and
Sol Henson played in both matches off the bench against UFV, with
Bronwyn Ettinger and
Daphne Demiryol splitting time at libero as well.
"It's really big," said Reimer on the importance of having depth that can be relied upon. "Because you're looking at quick turnaround times, and then playing against a second team that you haven't spent all week planning for. I think we can trust our group in all positions."
The T-Birds will need all hands on deck if they are to claim their first Canada West title since 2014, with the margins so thin between all four teams remaining.
"I think the team that wins is going to do basic things consistently well, at a higher level than the other teams, which is much easier said than done when you're facing a lot of offensive pressure coming at you," added Reimer. "You're also going to have to play free and balance risk and reward, because playing safe in terms of 'we've just got to get a win', will not cut it."
The T-Birds' semifinal matchup against Trinity Western is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday. They will then play either for bronze at 4:00 p.m. or gold at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. All of the Final Four matches can be watched live or on-demand through
Canada West TV.
