T-Birds fall in five sets to Bisons in game one of conference quarter-final

VANCOUVER – The third-seeded UBC Thunderbirds fought back from an early deficit, but ultimately fell in five close sets, 3-2 (25-18, 25-22, 19-25, 23-25, 15-11), to the sixth-place University of Manitoba Bisons in game one of the Canada West quarter-final at War Memorial Gym.
 
“I’ll give Manitoba credit, they came in and served and passed better than we did,” said UBC head coach Doug Reimer after the hard-fought loss. “Everything was a little bit off. Player-for-player we just have to be better. They’ve got a good young team that got after it, so we have to play with a higher level of execution on basic things and trust that what we can do will be good enough. There are some challenges, but we have to get a little bit more on track offensively – that’s our goal for tomorrow.”
 
Erika Vermette led the T-Birds with 15 kills and added 15 digs, Jayde Robertsen had 11 kills with five blocks, Elise Petit added 10 kills, Claire Cossarini put up eight kills with two aces and five blocks, and setter Issy Robertshaw had 48 assists with four aces and four blocks.

 
First-year left-side Raya Surinx racked up 21 kills and three aces for Manitoba, Brenna Bedosky tallied eight kills with a team-high four aces and four blocks, and Ella Gray added eight kills and 16 digs in the win.
 
Almonte ripped a kill down the line for an early 5-1 Bisons lead as Surnix carried a strong serving run to a 7-1 advantage. Akash Grewal entered the match and brought the ‘Birds within two at 8-6, while veteran setter Kayla Oxland made her return to action with the T-Birds trailing in the latter stages of the set. A UBC net violation lifted Manitoba to a 23-15 lead and the visitors took the first 25-18.
 
Vermette dropped an ace for a 5-3 T-Bird edge in the second set and Robertsen scored with an ace of her own at 11-5 Thunderbirds. Robertsen then cranked a kill from the middle for a 15-12 lead, but the Bisons fought back and pulled ahead on Surinx kill at 16-15. Surinx served up an ace at 21-17 and Manitoba captured the set, 25-22.
 

WVB | A big set win for @ubcwvb1 as they take the third set 25-19 over @bisonswvb, it’s 2-1 and we have a fourth set coming!#GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/fYMzM5SBNw

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) February 25, 2023

Robertshaw capped off a thrilling rally with a creative kill in the tight opening stages of the third set. Vermette cracked a cross-court kill at 8-8, before Brynn Pasin went on a serving run as the T-Birds led 13-10 with a Grewal solo block. Pasin then finished off a lengthy rally to force a Bison timeout up 18-13. Cossarini unloaded from the middle at 21-14 ‘Birds and Robertsen made it 23-19 before Pasin served an ace on the next point and UBC won the third, 25-19.
 
Vermette knotted up the evenly matched fourth set at 15-15 and Grewal gave the ‘Birds a narrow 19-18 lead before Cara Kovacs scored from the right side. Bedosky responded with an ace to bring the Bisons within one at 21-20. Light Uchechukwu earned back-to-back kills to tie it up at 22-22, but Robertshaw served an ace for a UBC set point at 24-22 and Cossarini closed it out – 25-23.

 
Bedosky gave Manitoba a 7-4 edge in the fifth set with a kill through the block, but Robertsen trimmed the Bison lead to two at 8-6. The visitors built back momentum and led 11-6 after a Gray ace. Petit kept the T-Birds within four with a kill before coming up with a huge block at 13-9 Bisons. Robertshaw recorded another ace to make it a two-point deficit at 13-11, but a Bedosky block closed out the match for Manitoba, 15-11.
 
“We got ahead early and managed to hold on,” said Manitoba head coach Ken Bentley after the Bisons upset victory to open the conference playoffs. “They’re a tough team with a rich history of great performances, so we didn’t come in here with any kind of delusion that it wasn’t going to be hard. This is the type of effort it’s going to take to have a chance to be successful against UBC. They’re a great team and the margins are small. We just have to watch the film now and be better in situations where we let some things slip away. It’s just a matter of coming back tomorrow with a full send and get after it. There are no secrets left at this point.”
 
Game two of the conference quarter-final series is slated for 6:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday, February 25^th, inside War Memorial Gym with the Thunderbirds looking to push the series to a third and deciding match.