T-Birds get past Cascades to remain undefeated

Abbotsford, BC – The U SPORTS No. 7 ranked UFV Cascades fell in four sets (20-25, 25-19, 25-17, 25-22) to the nation’s top-ranked UBC Thunderbirds on Friday at the UFV Athletic Centre. UBC sees their perfect record improve to 9-0 so far this season, while UFV drops to 6-3 with the result. 

As it happened: 
A pair of Issy Robertshaw aces gave the Thunderbirds a small lead in the first set, before a pair of kills from Katarina Pantovic helped them increase their advantage to 11-6. A four-serve run from Lucy Borowski pushed the lead to 16-9, and UBC looked to be cruising at 20-12. Back-to-back kills from UFV’s Mo Likness, were closely followed by Likness and Gabrielle Attieh combining twice for blocks to pull the Cascades back within three points at 21-18. However, the Thunderbirds found a pair of blocks themselves, and a kill from Claire Cossarini sealed the opening set. 

Likness and G. Attieh combined again for a pair of blocks, and Lauren Attieh picked up two kills, as UFV jumped out to a 15-8 lead in the second. A couple of late runs from UBC pulled it back to 18-16, but four consecutive points from the Cascades gave them the 25-19 set win. 

UBC took advantage of a few early errors from UBC to take an 8-4 lead in the third. A pair of kills from Elizabeth Lee helped them make it 20-13, and two Pantovic kills down the stretch closed out the set for the Thunderbirds. 

The teams traded blows early in the fourth, but seven straight points from UBC gave them a 13-7 lead that they carried into the late stages. With the score 24-17 UFV pushed to extend the match, scoring five straight including two L. Attieh kills, but the rally came too late as the Thunderbirds finally closed it out 25-22. 

Top performers: 
Lauren Attieh led all players with 15 kills and 16 points in the match for UFV, while Likness finished with seven blocks. Libero Emily Matsui ended with a team-high 18 digs. 

Pantovic had a team-high 13 kills and seven digs, while Borowski had nine kills, three aces and nine digs for UBC. Kacey Jost had a team-best 17 digs in the win. 

Up next:
The Cascades and Thunderbirds will face-off once again on Saturday in Abbotsford. Game time is set for 6:45 p.m. and the match can be seen live and on-demand on Canada West TV.