T-Birds down Dinos in straight sets to open weekend series

VANCOUVER – Elizabeth Lee was the difference maker off the bench helping to spark the UBC Thunderbirds to a straight-sets 3-0 (25-9, 25-19, 25-14) victory over the Calgary Dinos in an emotional Friday evening match-up at War Memorial Gymnasium. With the win the ‘Birds improved to 10-1 while the Dinos fell to 4-7 on the Canada West season.
 
Lee led UBC with nine kills, two service aces, and an impressive .643 hitting percentage. Lucy Borowski added nine kills and two service aces as well, while Issy Robertshaw had two aces, 29 assists, and a .947 serve percentage on 19 attempts.
 
Sophie Reed and Alice Nikolaychuk led the Dinos with five kills each while Nikolaychuk also added an ace.
 

WVB | THAT’S GAME! @ubcwvb1 ends the night with a 3-0 straight sets victory against @UCDinos!

The T-Birds will be back playing the second game of their weekend series before the winter break against Calgary Saturday evening at War Memorial Gym.

Tip off 5:00 pm!#GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/F1udmACSJr

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) December 2, 2023

The T-Birds started off with an ace from Robertshaw, and her play from the service line set up the home squad with an early 4-0 lead, prompting an early timeout by the Dinos.
 
“I thought we served great,” said Doug Reimer. “Issy Robertshaw set a great tone from the service line and let other people continue.”

 
The Birds’ impressive serve play continued. The team had a 100 per cent success rate through the first set and finished the game with a .905 service percentage, committing seven errors and scoring 12 aces.
 
That wasn’t it. The T-Birds’ defense was as strong as the play from the service line.
“I thought we blocked their hitters pretty well,” added Reimer.
 
The Thunderbirds tallied nine total team blocks through the game.
 
The defense led to offense for the ‘Birds, as they were in control through the first set. They led the Dinos 15-3, maintaining an incredible .467 hit percentage.
Lee’s kill from the left side closed out the first frame, 25-9.
 
The duo of Emma Doyon and Borowski shut back-to-back attacks down to start the second set, asserting early dominance for UBC once again. The attacks from Claire Cossarini and Lee added to the momentum, as they were able to get kills from the outside in consecutive attacks, leading early 9-4.
 
The Dinos however, were resilient. An ace from Kaylyn Tanton and a couple of errors committed by the T-Birds kept the visiting squad within two, 11-9, which prompted a timeout call from Reimer.

Despite some mistakes, the Thunderbirds remained consistent at the service line; as Kylee Glanville dialed up back-to-back aces, while Victoria D’Acre added to the tally. The Thunderbirds closed out the set 25-19, taking a 2-0 lead.
 
Led by Lee, the Thunderbirds came out hot to start the third. She kicked off the set with three kills and a block, as the ‘Birds opened up a convincing 12-5 advantage.
 
“She was doing a great job on the timing,” mentioned Reimer. “She was finding the seams in the blocks when she needed it, she was hitting hands, and bringing off speed when she needed to; she was really good at attacking and just generally played a good all-around match.”
 
The Dinos kept fighting, but the mountain was too high to climb, as the Birds closed out the third set, 25-14.

 
Before the opening serve a moment of silence was observed to honour three Canada West student-athletes from the Thompson Rivers University men’s volleyball team who were involved in a tragic motor vehicle accident earlier this week.
 
The Thunderbirds will host the Dinos again on Saturday, Dec. 2nd, for a 5:00 p.m. start at War Memorial Gym to close out the first half of the Canada West women’s volleyball season.