T-Birds sweep Huskies to open weekend series

SASKATOON – The UBC Thunderbirds opened their penultimate weekend series of the regular season with a convincing 3-0 (25-17, 25-19, 25-13) win over the Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday night. With the win, the T-Birds improve to 19-2 and remain first in the tightly contested Canada West table, while the Huskies drop to 8-13.
 
Lucy Borowski led the visiting ‘Birds with 11 kills and eight digs, while Claire Cossarini tallied eight kills and three aces. Akash Grewal was a force from the service line for the blue and gold, earning six aces for a league-high 56 total aces this season.

Two standouts for the Huskies included Keely Anderson, who earned eight kills and four digs, and outside hitter Rosetta Cyr, who scored five kills and six digs.

The ‘Birds got off to a strong start in the first set with a series of Borowski kills to carve out a 13-7 lead. The Huskies clawed back from the deficit to reduce the gap to only two points, but the effort fell short as UBC took off on another run, earning a set point with an Emma Doyon kill. UBC’s Mackenzie Campbell set a ball up for a Kylee Glanville kill to take the set at 25-17.
 
Cossarini rushed the ‘Birds to an 8-1 lead from the service line in the second set, but the home team brought it back, nearly equalizing at 11-10 UBC. The ‘Birds responded with two Borowski kills and a service ace by Grewal to force a Huskies timeout. UBC held the pressure after the timeout, allowing their opponents only three more points before reaching the 20-point mark at 20-14. Elizabeth Lee took the set for the ‘Birds at 25-19 with a left side kill.

 
The third set found the two teams battling neck-and-neck midway through the frame. A stunning Cossarini middle hit shifted the tides in favor of the visitors, and a Huskies error followed by a service ace from Cossarini secured the breakaway at 17-11. A Huskies service error ended the match at 25-13 for a 3-0 UBC victory.
 
The two teams play again on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. PT. Stream all of the action, live or on demand, on Canada West TV.