T-Birds sweep Fraser Valley with four set win in Abbotsford

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – After dropping the first set Saturday night, the UBC Thunderbirds stormed back to win the next three, completing the weekend sweep over the Fraser Valley Cascades in Abbotsford.

Saturday’s result (23-25, 25-13, 25-20, 25-17), combined with a similar four-set UBC win on Friday, allowed the Thunderbirds to vault into second place in the West Division at 7-5; UFV is in fourth at 5-7.

“It was a solid team effort and a great performance all around on the weekend,” said UBC Head Coach Doug Reimer after his team won their second straight four set match. “I was really pleased with our team blocking in particular.”

The T-Birds built leads of 5-1 and 10-4 in the first set, with Cara Kovacs picking up a trio of kills and an ace, but the Cascades battled back. They scored six out of seven points midway through the set, with Amanda Matsui blasting three kills during that stretch, to go ahead 15-14. Rookie setter Kinna Fisher came off the bench to notch an ace and then set up Matsui and Mo Likness for crucial kills down the stretch as UFV took it 25-23.

The second set was all UBC, though – they raced out to a 7-1 lead and didn’t look back from there, hitting a scorching .412 as a team compared to UFV’s .037.

In the third set, the two teams were even at 14-14, but UBC gained some separation with back-to-back kills from Trinity Solecki, and they were able to maintain a modest lead the rest of the way and take it 25-20.

The fourth set played out in similar fashion – a Brynn Pasin service run gave UBC a 16-14 lead at the technical timeout, and they would dominate down the stretch, scoring eight of the last nine points to end the match 25-17.

Amanda Matsui registered 10 kills for the Cascades, and Likness added five of her own to go with two solo blocks. Emily Matsui (12) and Sadie Wilson (15) both reached double-digit digs for the hosts.

Kovacs had a second straight strong outing for the Thunderbirds, racking up a game-high 14 kills. Solecki and Claire Cossarini had eight kills apiece, and setter Lucy Borowski had 36 assists and four service aces in what was her first conference start for the T-Birds following an injury to Kayla Oxland.

With just four matches remaining in the regular season, the T-Birds can use the weekend’s solid results as a springboard to launch into the playoffs with some solid momentum.

Next weekend features a battle with the UBC Okanagan Heat at War Memorial Gym in UBC’s final home series of the season where the T-Birds’ graduating seniors will also be honoured.

The ‘Birds will then close out the 2021-22 campaign in Kamloops with a pair of matches against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack February 25 and 26.