Pandas fall 3-1 to UBC in U SPORTS Final

HAMILTON, ON – Akash Grewal, Lucy Borowski and Erika Vermette each recorded double digit kills to lead the No. 2 seed, the UBC Thunderbirds, to a 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-19, 25-23) victory over the No. 4 Alberta Pandas in the gold medal match of the 2024 U SPORTS Women’s Volleyball Championship on Sunday night. Grewal was dominant at the service line, tallying five aces in the contest at Burridge Gymnasium to will the Thunderbirds to their fourteenth national title in program history.

Issy Robertshaw continued her strong weekend performance with 41 assists, two kills and three blocks. The Thunderbirds recorded a solid .221 hitting percentage while the Pandas finished with a percentage of .119.

For the Pandas, Lauryn Tremblay was the offensive leader with 15 kills. Justine Kolody recorded 32 assists and five digs for Alberta.

It is the fifth national medal for the Pandas in the last seven seasons, and second in three years after a bronze in 2022. 

Lucy Borowski won tournament MVP honours and was joined by teammates Akash Grewal and Erika Vermette on the tournament all-star team. The Pandas’ Tremblay and Laila Johnston along with Manitoba’s Katreena Bentley and Acadia’s Alexia Lemay-Evans made up the rest of the all-star roster.

UBC came out firing, scoring eight of the match’s first eleven points before going up by as much as ten points throughout the opening set, securing a dominant 25-16 final in Set #1.

The second set was tight, with the score being tied at eight separate points throughout the set. It was the Pandas that came out on top to tie the match at one set apiece.

In Set #3, the UBC Thunderbirds rebounded, going up by five early and never relinquishing the lead enroute to a 25-19 score.

The fourth set was a battle with both squads exchanging points for the duration. Despite a push from the Pandas, it was the British Columbia squad that scored the final three points of the match to take the game and defeat the Canada West bronze medalists 3-1 to secure national gold and the title of U SPORTS Champions.

The 2025 U SPORTS Women’s Volleyball Championship is set to be hosted by the Manitoba Bisons at the Investors Group Athletic Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba from March 14-16.