T-Birds drop tight four-setter to Wesmen

VANCOUVER – With the Canada West playoffs on the horizon, the second-seeded UBC Thunderbirds (16-5) dropped a 3-1 (25-17, 25-20, 11-25, 25-23) decision to the fourth-place Winnipeg Wesmen (15-6) on Friday night at War Memorial Gym.
 
Elise Petit led the way for the T-Birds with 14 kills and 15 digs, Claire Cossarini added nine kills with two blocks, and Lucy Borowski had eight kills with five assists and two aces in the loss. Emma Parker put up a team-high 14 kills for the Wesmen, Ashleigh Laube tallied 10 kills with 10 digs, and Selva Planincic had nine kills and four blocks to put Winnipeg back in the win column.
 
The Wesmen rattled off a mini three-point run early in the first for a 12-7 edge, but the ‘Birds responded with four consecutive points of their own at 12-11 after a Winnipeg error. At 18-15 Wesmen, the visitors scored straight points – capped off with a Taylor Kleysen kill at 22-15 and took the first 25-17 with a UBC service error.

 
The Thunderbirds pulled within two in the second set with a Borowski back row kill at 13-11, but Laube extended Winnipeg’s lead to 23-17 with a kill. Cossarini entered the match late in the set and promptly scored three straight points from the middle to bring UBC back within three at 23-20, but the Wesmen clamped down to take the second set, 25-20 on a Planicic kill.
 
Cossarini continued to fire in the third set and gave UBC a 7-2 advantage before Issy Robertshaw fired an ace at 12-4 T-Birds. The ‘Birds kept their momentum rolling and maintained control through to a comfortable 25-11 win with a Borowski kill.
 

WVB | @ubcwvb1 take the third set 25-11 over @WesmenWVB, and we’ve got a fourth set coming up!#GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/iRxFEtxnp5

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) February 11, 2023

In a tightly contested fourth set, Grewal came up with a huge block for a slim 10-8 lead and a Petit kill maintained the two-point cushion at 21-19. With the score even at 23-23, a T-Bird error gave the Wesmen a match point and Laube closed it out with a left-side kill.
 

WVB | We would like to celebrate 3 of our 6 graduating seniors Cara Kovacs, Elise Petit, and Kayla Oxland after meeting @WesmenWVB.

Thanks for your dedication & leadership. Once a T-Bird, always a T-Bird! ???? pic.twitter.com/IhVXZOLVKs

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) February 11, 2023

The two teams will square off in UBC’s regular season home court finale on Senior Weekend inside War Memorial Gym at 5:00 p.m. (PT) with playoff seeding still on the line.