Box Score Written by: Lee Dorner, UBC Sports Information
Vancouver – The #1 UBC Thunderbirds scooped up their second straight Canada West title with a 3-0 win (25-20, 25-19, 25-22) over the #5 Manitoba Bisons women's volleyball team on Saturday, February 22 night. The Bisons finish with a silver medal in the Canada West Final Four (conference championship).
Both teams played championship-caliber volleyball in all three sets, but every time the Bisons crept up and looked like they were about to establish a lead, the T-Birds had the answer. UBC's depth of talent was on full display, as the T-Birds used great team defence and a balanced attack to win their second straight conference gold, and their fifth in the last seven seasons.
After a scorching-hot Friday night performance from the Canada West MVP, Lisa Barclay was held in check a little better by the Bisons on Saturday, but she still managed to lead the match with 13 kills. Just as important as those kills, however, was her passing and the general floor space she opens up for teammates.
UBC libero Briana Liau Kent was another star of Friday's match, racking up digs like they were going out of style. She led the match again with 12 digs Saturday, and was a consistent anchor for the T-Birds all weekend.
Rosie Schlagintweit had 11 kills on .360 hitting. Abbey Keeping added nine and Juliana Kaufmanis had seven.
For the Bisons, Jordana Milne led the way offensively with eight kills. Rachel Cockrell had seven, and setter Brittany Habing was arguably their most effective source of offence, with five kills in six attempts. She also had 23 assists.
In set on, the 'Birds sided out at 71 per cent to prevent the Bisons from getting any sustained momentum going. Middle blocker Keeping showed why she was one of the most efficient attackers in the conference, racking up five kills on five attacks to get UBC settled with a 1-0 lead.
UBC's serving game was huge throughout the night, and particularly in the first two sets. Kaufmanis and Maria Bruinsma had three aces each after two, and UBC had seven as a team compared to three for Manitoba. Even when they weren't recording aces, the T-Bird servers kept Manitoba's offence out of sync just enough to have the edge throughout the match.
The third set was the only time the Bisons had a significant lead, as they jumped out to a 7-2 advantage and led 9-4 before UBC turned the engines on. From there, the T-Birds surged ahead with a 7-0 lead on Schlagintweit's serve. The Bisons briefly regained the lead 18-17, but T-Bird subs Danielle Brisebois and Alissa Coulter closed things out strong to secure the win for UBC.
This makes 16 straight regular season or playoff victories for UBC over Manitoba, dating back to November 9, 2007. UBC also topped Manitoba in the 2010 Canada West finals 3-2, and eventually met them in the CIS finals that year as well, winning 3-1.
The T-Birds now look forward to next week in Regina, where the team will look to win a CIS record seventh-straight women's volleyball national title. This makes the fifth time UBC has won the conference title during that run.
UBC, Manitoba and Trinity Western all join host Regina at the eight-team CIS tournament next week. The tourney runs February 28-March 2 in Regina.
