T-Birds sweep Wolfpack to advance to Canada West semifinal

VANCOUVER – The number one seed, UBC Thunderbirds, swept the eighth-ranked TRU Wolfpack in straight sets 3-0 (25-13, 25-14, 25-16) for a second-straight night to win the best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series at Memorial Gym on Saturday. With the win the defending U SPORTS national champions advance to the semifinal series next weekend where they’ll host the Alberta Pandas in another best-of-three series.

Similar to Friday night’s opener UBC was once again very efficient in earning the victory against a WolfPack squad that also more competitive than one night prior. An even distribution of kills spread through the T-Bird roster was only bolstered by an edge in blocking with 16 compared to TRU’s eight and a .292 attacking percentage for the home team as opposed to the Wolfpack’s -.096.

Erika Vermette and Akash Grewal led the ‘Birds with eight kills each. Vermette added an ace and five digs, while Grewal earned two aces and three digs and a .636 hit percentage. Lucy Borowski totalled five kills, four digs and two blocks.
 
“I thought we blocked and defended well,” said UBC head coach Doug Reimer. “One of the things I talk about is our ability to extend rallies … [TRU] had to earn every point … and for us to do that consistently for six sets, I’m just super happy with that.”

Ema Palkovikova led both teams in kills with 10, while adding six digs and a block, teammate Brooklyn Olfert managed four kills, two digs and a block. 
 
UBC took momentum early in the first set after a cheeky roll shot from Grewal, followed by an ace from the standout UBC third-year outside hitter and as the score reached 6-2 in favour of the ‘Birds, leading to a TRU timeout. After the pause, A tenacious Olfert fought at the net with a series of blocks for the WolfPack, but wasn’t rewarded as the T-Birds rode their momentum to a 13-5 score which forced another TRU timeout.

 
Following the break, TRU’s second-year hitter, Palkovicova, tried to spark her group with a few dangerous and heavy-handed smashes, but a constant barrage of threats from UBC’s outside hitters and a resilient defence from Kacey Jost thwarted any hope of a TRU comeback. With the score 24-13, a final block from T-Bird’s captain, Claire Cossarini secured the frame for UBC, 25-13.

Early in the second stanza, the game began to even out with both teams battling back and forth, engaging in increasingly longer rallies, but the ‘Birds continued to hold a slight edge, proving dominant at the net and withstanding blistering right-handed hits from TRU’s Palkovicova. After UBC increased their lead to 12-7, the WolfPack regrouped with a timeout. The break seemed to only strengthen the T-Birds as an almost even distribution of kills from Borowski, Grewal and Vermette widened the gap to 20-12. From there, the ‘Birds didn’t look back, taking the set 25-14, culminating in another Grewal kill.
 

?? WVB | @ubcwvb1‘s Erika Vermette with the serve, the T-Birds take the second set 25-14! #GoBirdsGo

??: https://t.co/TdjaH9qtA1 pic.twitter.com/0R7apzpOyu

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) February 25, 2024

Issy Robertshaw opened up the final frame with a hat-trick of aces, putting the second-year setter at four for the match. TRU’s Olfert and Palkovikova remained a thorn in UBC’s side, unfazed by the scoreboard, racking up a handful of dangerous blocks, kills and an ace, but again, the T-Birds stayed focused with Grewal topping the kill leaderboard during the set and managing an 18-10 lead as the WolfPack used another timeout. Following the break, it was a familiar storyline, with UBC once again pushing their advantage, taking the match after a Cossarini kill made the set 25-16, ending the season for a skilled Wolfpack team and propelling UBC to the Canada West semifinals to face the University of Alberta Pandas.
 

?? WVB | @ubcwvb1 earned a second-straight 3-0 sweep vs the WolfPack to close out their @CanadaWest quarter-final series.??

2nd-year setter Issy Robertshaw dolled out a match-high 4 aces & added 5 digs to help the T-Birds advance to the semi-finals next weekend vs Alberta!

??: pic.twitter.com/RGYKM0jiQV

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) February 25, 2024

 
“Alberta has a great young team,” added Reimer, when asked for a sneak peek thought on the next opponent. “Happy not to be playing volleyball tomorrow. We’ll get some rest and start preparing for Alberta.”
 
The No. 5 seed Pandas got past the 4^th ranked Spartans in their quarter-final series thanks to two straight tidy victories on Thursday (3-1) and Friday (3-0) of this week to keep their season alive.

 
The T-Birds will maintain home court advantage and open their best-of-three semifinal series against the Pandas next Friday March, 1 at 6:00 p.m. PT at War Memorial Gym.