T-Birds take down Cascades in straight sets

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (2-0) earned a series sweep over the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades (0-2) with a 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-22) victory to close out their Canada West home opening weekend at War Memorial Gym.

“I thought generally we were a little calmer and more focussed tonight,” said UBC head coach Doug Reimer after the ‘Birds showed improvement on night two of the back-to-back series. “That makes a difference for things like blocking and making good reads defensively. I thought particularly in the first set Kacey Jost dug a lot of balls and had great movement on the court. We struggled serving, especially in the second set, but at other times we brought more service pressure. At the end of two sets, we missed twelve serves, so this is where we have to learn as a group to maintain good serving. I thought it was much better in the third set with much better focus. At this time of year lots of things need to be improved, and I think our transition offence and timing could get better.”

Elise Petit had a team-high 14 kills for the T-Birds with four aces, Jayde Robertsen added nine kills with two aces, and Erika Vermette tallied five kills and two aces in the win.

Gabrielle Attieh put up 17 kills and 13 digs to lead the Cascades, as Lauren Attieh had seven kills with five digs and an ace in the loss.

The ‘Birds opened up a four-point lead in the first set after a Lucy Borowski block at 15-11 forced a UFV timeout. UBC continued to push, and a Robertsen kill made it 20-14 before Vermette dropped an ace for a set point at 24-16. The Cascades extended the set with a pair of kills and a Mo Likeness ace at 24-19. The UFV late run continued until Borowski and Danielle Price teamed up for a block to close out the set for the T-Birds at 25-21.

Gabrielle Attieh cranked a kill from the right side for a 5-2 Cascades edge in the second set and Lauren Attieh served up an ace at 7-3. UBC pulled within one at 9-8 after a lengthy rally, and Akash Grewal kept the ‘Birds close with a kill at 19-18 Cascades. A UFV error tied it at 20-20 and a Petit kill maintained the tie at 23-23. Grewal earned a huge solo block for a UBC set point and Petit served up an ace for the comeback win at 25-23.

T-Bird setter Kayla Oxland scored on a tip at 9-7 in a tight start to the third set. Vermette notched a kill after a UFV overpass and forced a Cascades timeout at 19-16 UBC. The visitors went on a run out of the timeout and evened it up at 19-19, but the ‘Birds rattled off a 4-0 run of their own for a 23-19 advantage. Robertsen teed off on kill down the line at 24-21 and Petit closed out the match on a kill for a 25-22 win.

After a strong start on home court, the Thunderbirds will now travel to Brandon, Manitoba for a matchup against the Bobcats on Friday, October 28^th at 4:00 p.m. (PT) and Saturday, October 29^th at 3:00 p.m. (PT). The Cascades are back at home next weekend to host the Trinity Western Spartans for a series in Abbotsford.