VANCOUVER – It was a well-played playoff opener Friday night at War Memorial Gym as the UBC Thunderbirds drew first blood in the best-of-three Canada West Semifinal series, defeating the Alberta Pandas 3-0 (27-25, 25-21, 25-23).
The Pandas fought back from deficits in all of the sets, making UBC work for each of their three wins.
Erika Vermette tied her career-high in kills with 16 along with eight digs and two blocks. Lucy Borowski put up eight kills, 11 digs and three blocks, and Issy Robertshaw dished out 37 assists along with seven digs.
Lauryn Tremblay led the way for the visitors with 11 kills and 11 digs, while Ronnie Dickson notched eight kills on a .667 hitting percentage along with four digs and three blocks.
The Pandas took an early lead in the first, but a kill and ace on consecutive plays by Akash Grewal tied the score at 5-5. Back-to-back kills by Emma Doyon pushed UBC’s lead out to 16-11, their biggest of the set to that point.
The T-Birds were able to maintain their advantage throughout the latter part of the first, getting it up to 24-18 to set up set point. However, the Pandas then roared back and scored six straight points to tie the score with an impressive comeback.
Despite the big scare, UBC was eventually able to finish off the set to the tune of a 27-25 score off an ace from Grewal.
After a back and forth beginning to the second, the T-Birds pushed the lead out to 11-7 with a kill from Borowski. The Pandas made another push as the set wore on, cutting the lead down to 20-18, but UBC responded with a mini-run of their own to make it 23-19 off another kill from Borowski.
Alberta initially fought off a set point once again to make it 24-21, but Vermette assuaged any nerves in the crowd with a kill to put UBC up 2-0 in set count.
An ace from Doyon put the Thunderbirds up 7-4 early in the third, but Alberta battled back once again. The two teams found themselves knotted at 19 before three straight kills from Vermette put the home team back in the driver’s seat.
After UBC went up 24-21 the Pandas made another push with consecutive points, but Claire Cossarini ended the night with an emphatic block to make it 25-23. Vermette and Tremblay were named the Mikasa Players of the Game for their teams.
With the victory, the T-Birds are now just one more win away from reaching the Canada West Final.
Game two of the series goes Saturday at 6:00 p.m. (PT) in War Memorial Gym and you can also catch all the action on Canada West TV.