LANGLEY – The Langley Events Centre was electric for Saturday night’s match that saw the visiting UBC Thunderbirds outlast the no. 2 ranked Trinity Western Spartans with a five set victory, 3-2 (32-30, 21-25, 25-17, 26-28, 11-15).The Spartans (3-1) were ousted by a fiery, and driven UBC (2-2) team who made no mistake in asserting themselves as a valid competitor within Canada West.
Savannah Purdy (Victoria) led the way for the Spartans on the offensive end, putting down 17 kills with a significant amount of volume received from Spartans setter Olivia Heinen (Langley, B.C.).
For the Thunderbirds, Claire Cossarini hit an efficient ball, putting down a total of 12 kills on 24 attempts. The second-year middle was outstanding from the service line as well, completing three aces en route to UBC’s second win of the season. Cossarini intertwined well with Elise Petit who put down 10 of her own kills.
AS IT HAPPENED
The first set of action dictated the course of Saturday’s game as a whole, resulting in a 32-30 win for the Spartans. The Spartans took a commanding lead off the bat, going up 16-8 to result in a Spartans timeout. Still, UBC refused to bow down as the Spartans surrendered their control, eventually bringing the set to a 21-21 tie. Each team traded blows with each other until Avery Heppell (Langley, B.C.) sealed the deal, blocking a UBC attack to finish the set emphatically.
The Thunderbirds carried their strong run of play into the second set, running away with a 25-21 victory
The Spartans regained control in the third, taking a 25-17 win to take a 2-1 stranglehold on the game.
Once again, the Thunderbirds continued to play a gutsy brand of volleyball, squeaking out a 28-26 win in the fourth to force a dramatic fifth set.
The fifth set was intense, being controlled by the visiting Thunderbirds from the get-go. UBC took an 11-6 lead, constantly putting pressure on the home side through a stellar array of defensive efforts put on by Claire Cossarini and Lucy Borowski. With the Spartans making a late surge to take back their control of the match, Danielle Price rose up to stuff Heppell’s attack from the middle emphatically, ending the set at 15-11 in favour of the Thunderbirds.