T-Birds sweep Pandas to take game one of the Canada West Semifinals

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. Thunderbirds head coach Doug Reimer was pleased with the resolve his team showed in closing out the victory.
 
“Alberta didn’t let us off the hook,” said coach Reimer. “At the end of the day I thought our all-around game showed pretty well. I thought we defended well, we had some good offensive performances…and we needed every one of those, that’s for sure.”

 
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.
 

?? WVB | @ubcwvb1‘s Erika Vermette with the winning kill! The T-Birds take the second set 25-21! #GoBirdsGo

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— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) March 2, 2024

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.
 

?? WVB | @ubcwvb1‘s Claire Cossarini with the winning block, giving the
T-Birds a 25-23 victory! The T-Birds will be back tomorrow at historic War Memorial Gym playing the second game of the semifinal weekend.
Game starts at 6:00 pm! #GoBirdsGo

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— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) March 2, 2024

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.
 

?? WVB | @ubcwvb1 earns the 3-0 sweep vs Alberta to take game 1 of their best-of-three @CanadaWest semifinal series at War Memorial Gym on Friday night.

4th-year outside hitter Erika Vermette delivered a game high 16 kills & explains what was working for her & the T-Birds.

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— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) March 2, 2024

With the victory, the T-Birds are now just one more win away from reaching the Canada West Final. Coach Reimer said after the match that he wants to make sure his team keeps the same energy they’ve played with all season.

 
“We got to keep playing fast,” added Reimer. “We got to play with pace, we got to serve the ball tough…the core things that brought us to this point, and then finish with good plays down the stretch if needed.”
 
Game two of the series goes Saturday at 6:00 p.m. (PT) in War Memorial Gym. Catch all the action on Canada West TV.