REGINA – The UBC Thunderbirds (4-0) continued their perfect start to the season, beating the University of Regina Cougars (0-4) in straight sets (25-16, 25-12, 25-15) for a second consecutive night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.
Akash Grewal was the focal point of the UBC attack once again, leading the team with nine kills on a blistering .615 attack percentage, while also adding three aces. Kylee Glanville had an even better serving night for the T-Birds, racking up four aces and no service errors. Defensively, Katarina Pantovic had a team-high seven digs and Lucy Borowski took part in four blocks to lead the ‘Birds front row.
The T-Birds took control of the match with a 25-16 first set win thanks in large part to Grewal’s hyper-efficient hitting. The third-year blossoming star was a perfect 6-for-6 on attacks in the opening set and also had a service ace.
The blue and gold then quickly broke the second set wide open with a 9-1 run, eventually cruising to a 25-12 victory to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
In the third set, it was Glanville’s serving that carried the T-Birds. The second year outside hitter had all four of her aces in the final frame and also had four of her five kills, helping UBC hit .500 as a team while clinching the match by a 25-15 margin.
The ‘Birds have now won all 12 of their sets on the young Canada West season, a perfect start to their U SPORTS gold medal defence. The team continues its road trip next weekend in Winnipeg with a difficult test against a Wesmen squad that finished 18-6 last year, an identical record to UBC. Stream all of the T-Birds’ matches live or on demand on Canada West TV.