The UBC women’s volleyball team closed out their regular season with a decisive 3-1 victory Friday night at War Memorial Gym over the Saskatchewan Huskies, followed up by a straight set victory on Saturday night as well — a good sign with playoffs on the horizon.
On Friday, it was evident in the first two sets that the Thunderbirds were the stronger team, coming out with good communication and offensive plays, as well as following through with consistent service from Kiera Van Ryk and Gabrielle Attieh. Communication was pivotal to their success, and the audience watched as the Thunderbirds’ assertive offence enabled a lopsided score in both sets with 25-15 and then 25-7 scores.
The T-Bird’s advantage even gave a few bench players a chance to showcase their skills, as players like Danae Shephard and Siobhan Finan demonstrated their abilities for the home crowd.
“I want players ready to go in whether that’s for a short or longer period of time as we get to playoffs, so they get more comfortable,” UBC head coach Doug Reimer said of the decision to start running his substitutes through the lineup.
Traditionally this season, the team has opted to stick to its starting lineup primarily — Friday night’s match up was a breath of fresh air and a chance for fans to see the other players coming up through the ranks for the T-Birds.
In the third set however, the Thunderbirds experienced a slight hiccup as a lack of focus allowed the Saskatchewan Huskies to fight back quickly, earning them a 25-16 set victory. Though UBC seemed to shake off their haze through the final points of the set, the Huskies proved to be slightly more determined in seeing the third frame end in their favour.
“Volleyball is just one of those games that can flip on a dime and I think it did,” UBC team captain Alessandra Gentile said of the third set switch in play. “I think we underestimated them in the third set and they just got the best of us.”
But the Thunderbirds showed resilience in the fourth set and didn’t allow their previous loss to stop them claiming the match. With Van Ryk seeming to help lift the team and bring the focus back, UBC started to look like its old, dominating self again. Ciara Hanly and Anna Price proved to be big game changers on the night as well, which showed in their stats: Hanly finished with 11 kills on the night, while Price had six service aces.
“Ciara Hanly was rocking it on those steps, basically destroying the ball,” said Gentile of her teammate. “I think Anna Price played a pretty good game too.”
Ending the game on a strong note, the UBC women’s volleyball team continues to leave a lasting presence on the court and with their audience. They did one better on Saturday night too, claiming a straight set victory to get them back on track with playoffs looming.
The Thunderbirds will start their Canada West quarterfinal series on Friday, February 23 at War Memorial Gym against the seventh-seeded Regina Cougars. Though the standings favour the ’Birds, Regina is one of four teams to have defeated UBC this year.
If the season match up between the two teams says anything, it would be that the quarterfinal series will be an entertaining one.