ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – The No. 5 ranked Alberta Pandas defeated the UBC Okanagan Heat in straight-sets (25-19, 25-22, 25-21) at the UFV Athletic Centre on Saturday night. With this victory, the Pandas are set to advance to the Canada West Final Four.
A feisty UBCO side put up a solid fight against Alberta, but the game was decided on the offensive side of the ball as the Canada West All-Star combination of Kory White and Julia Zonneveld combined for 25 kills. Both White and Zonneveld ended their nights with game-highs in kills, putting down 15 and 10 respectively.
UBCO’s night was highlighted by a team-high of eight kills on a hitting percentage of .261 by Amaya Perry. The second-year outside hitter, who carried the game-high in kills in their first game of the weekend against Trinity Western, also chipped in on the defensive end, ending her night with two solo blocks and two block assists.
With the Heat officially eliminated from the Canada West Playoffs after the loss, the Pandas will go to battle against Trinity Western on Sunday at 2 p.m. (PT) at the Langley Events Centre. The game has major implications on the Canada West Final Four as hosting rights will be handed to the winner of Sunday’s match.
AS IT HAPPENED
The Pandas jumped out to an early 10-6 lead in the first set as the Canada West All-Star combination of Kory White and Julia Zonneveld combined for eight of Alberta’s 13 kills in the set. The Heat had few answers for the hard-hitting Alberta combination, making their dues on the service line by holding themselves to only three errors with as many aces. Still, UBCO’s hot start at the line couldn’t stop Alberta, ending the first set at 25-19 in favour of the Pandas.
Although the first set saw the Pandas take a swift lead, UBCO battled back in the second, only trailing the Pandas 23-22. With an opportunity for the Heat to tie it up, Zonneveld buried a kill to snuff out the Heat’s momentum, wrapping the second set up at a 25-22 victory for Alberta.
The Heat found themselves ahead 17-14 midway through the third set, keeping Alberta’s attacking options at bay with a strong blocking phase. With UBCO refusing to go down easy, the Pandas rallied back, outscoring UBCO 11-4 to end the set at a 25-21 line.
QUOTABLE
Alberta Head Coach Laurie Eisler
“I really liked our composure tonight. UBCO is a team with an incredible amount of skill, physicality, and fight. They just don’t give up – they kept pushing, but I thought we played a steady match.
“I thought everybody resembled themselves, they played at the level I expect in a match like this. This was Julia Zonneveld’s first match back since her injury in January.
“[Trinity Western] is a great team. We played them twice in the preseason – dropping both matches. They’ve had an incredible regular season. [The Langley Events Centre] is always a challenging place to play, but we’re honoured to here and have a chance to see how we measure up against them.”
NOTABLE
• With this victory, Alberta now moves to a 3-1 record in the Canada West playoffs.
• The Heat ended their run in the Canada West Playoffs with a 2-3 record.
• Alberta’s kill percentage in Saturday’s victory ended at .243.
• Saturday’s tilt was UBCO’s 11th match in 22 days. The Heat played a total of 48 sets across that time span.
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