VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (14-2) swept the UBC Okanagan Heat (8-8) with a 3-1 (25-16, 23-25, 25-20, 25-12) victory at War Memorial Gym to keep pace atop the Canada West standings and maintain a tie for first place in the division.
Elise Petit led the way offensively for the T-Birds with 14 kills – while also adding six blocks and eight digs, Cara Kovacs had a career-best nine total blocks with nine kills, and Lucy Borowski added eight kills and four aces in the win.
“I think overall we played three pretty solid sets and got stronger as things went on,” said UBC head coach Doug Reimer. “I thought we played with really good team communication. Being able to mix a number of things in and execute well was important. Elise was really solid and dialed in on defence, I though Kacey Jost was outstanding – just laying it out all over the court and bringing great energy. Having Danielle Price come in with Jayde Robertsen back as well we were stronger, Akash Grewal got rolling in the fourth set – those are all critical pieces because you’re not going to play lights out all the time and execute everything…so it’s important to see how well we come together after we make a mistake. The individual and team recovery was great to see.”
Sydney Grills had a team-high eight kills for UBCO with four blocks, while Jade Bussard and Natalie Funk both put up six kills as the Heat dropped back to .500 on the season.
The ‘Birds stormed out to a 10-2 cushion in the first before a Bussard kill narrowed the Heat deficit to three at 15-12. UBCO continued to press and trailed by just one at 16-15, but the T-Birds settled in and extended their lead to 22-16 with a Petit kill. Setter Kayla Oxland ripped a kill for a set point and UBC converted to take the first, 25-16.
The Heat took a 9-6 lead on a Grills kill in the second, but an Oxland ace tied it up at 9-9. The teams were evenly matched through the set, until the visitors earned a 21-18 edge with a Bussard kill. Erika Vermette responded with a back row kill and a T-Bird block made it 22-20. Brynn Pasin served an ace to bring the ‘Birds back within one at 23-22, but a Grills kill gave the Heat a set point. Petit earned a kill to extend the set, but Grills scored again from the back row to close it out, 25-23.
Cara Kovacs cracked a kill for a 16-12 UBC lead in a close third set and the T-Birds led by six after a Price block. A string of Heat errors lifted the ‘Birds to their first set point at 24-17 and they closed it out 25-20.
In the fourth, Jost scored a kill for a 14-8 T-Bird lead and a Petit kill down the line gave the ‘Birds a 19-10 advantage. UBC held on and closed out the match with a 25-12 victory.
The Thunderbirds will now take their six-match win streak out on the road to face the Mount Royal Cougars (11-5) for a series in Calgary, while the Heat host the Trinity Western Spartans (14-2) in Kelowna.
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