Thunderbirds blitz Spartans in electric offensive showing

The UBC Thunderbirds put forth their best offensive performance of the young season on Friday night, as they defeated the Trinity Western Spartans in straight sets (25-17, 25-20, 25-21).

The T-Birds recorded 43 kills over the three sets, and hit .351 as a team. The trio of talented outside hitters did damage all night long – Lucy Borowski recorded 14 kills, seven digs and five blocks, Akash Grewal had 11 kills, four digs and two aces, and Trinity Solecki put up nine kills, five digs and three aces on a .600 hitting percentage.

“I thought Issy Robertshaw put them in good positions to attack,” said Thunderbirds head coach Doug Reimer. “Non-setters also did a good job – we would defend, and we would still bring it back to attack very well…execution was really good.”

Faye Murray paced the Spartans with nine kills, seven digs and two aces. Fellow outside hitter Maryn Bolden recorded eight kills and four digs.

The T-Birds came out of the gates red-hot, immediately leaping out to an 8-1 lead that included three consecutive blocks by a stout frontline defence. While the Spartans tried to find their groove and push back, UBC kept their foot on the accelerator as they racked up 15 kills in the frame, including four by Solecki.

After Emelie Silovs got into the offensive action with a kill of her own to make it 18-11, the Thunderbirds were able to cruise across the finish line. Robertshaw managed back-to-back kills to make it 24-15, before a TWU service error ended things a few points later.

The Spartans started much stronger in the second, and built up an 11-8 lead. The tides turned violently from there, however, as the T-Birds ripped off a 13-1 run to take a stranglehold on the set.

The energy from the crowd rose higher and higher with back-to-back aces from Grewal followed by two straight blocks from Borowski and Leonora Barbulovich-Nad, making it 21-12. The Spartans made a last gasp run in the final points to stave off the set loss a little longer, but Solecki eventually closed it out with a kill at 25-20.

With the chance to earn their third straight 3-0 win on the table, UBC jumped out to an early lead in the third set, which reached 10-4 when Solecki landed two aces in a row. The Spartans did go on a run from there, cutting the lead down to just one, before Grewal hit a big cross-court kill to stop the momentum.

The T-Birds stretched their advantage out to 21-16 following Solecki’s third ace of the set, but again TWU kept fighting and cut the lead to just one point for the second time. UBC held firm though, and after a big block by Borowski and Silovs made it 24-21, Grewal ended the night with a kill.
 

?? WVB | Hear from Trinity Solecki after she (and the rest of the Thunderbirds) put on a great offensive display in a straight sets win over the Spartans ?? #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/yETsnYoOVt

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) November 2, 2024

With the win, the Thunderbirds improve to 5-0 on the season, with a sets won-lost ratio of 15-2. Now, the team turns their attention to a rematch with Trinity Western in Langley next Friday.

While happy with his team’s performance on the night, Reimer reiterated that it won’t be easy to beat the Spartans on their home turf.

“I think this is really good for our team to have this, enjoy this, but we’re gonna need as good or better of a week of prep,” he added.

That rematch of the two nationally-ranked schools is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. (PT) on November 8th.