Against Montréal, UBC’s season came dangerously close to ending after a disappointing opening set, but they didn’t let the deficit faze them. Responding by winning three straight sets, they gave themselves new life from the service line, with 11 service aces to the Carabins’ three.
After these in-province rivals had battled to the final point of the fifth set in their last two meetings, it felt like a given that this game, on the national stage, would also go the distance. Instead, Trinity Western swept the T-Birds, taking advantage of UBC’s inability to convert late in all three sets.
After the Calgary Dinos upset the previously undefeated Saskatchewan Huskies in the Canada West semifinal, the T-Birds thought they had caught a break. Instead, they got the worst of both worlds, losing to the Dinos in the final before being eliminated from medal contention by the Huskies — a game in which they never led.
In Game 1 of the Canada West finals, the T-Birds were up against a classic underdog tale. The Manitoba Bisons, who had barely qualified for the playoffs, knocked off two higher-seeded teams on the road to UBC. The ‘Birds put a serious dent in their Cinderella story on Friday, waxing them 5–1.