Coming off two weeks of games and a bye weekend, November has seen the UBC women’s volleyball team dominate Canada West (CW), only dropping one game since the season’s start.
Here’s what you might have missed.
UBC sweeps TRU in straight sets
The weekend of November 17 and 18 saw the ‘Birds sweep the Thompson Rivers University (TRU) WolfPack in straight sets.
On November 17, UBC and TRU went back and forth early in the first set before a kill from outside hitter Katarina Pantovic and a monster block by middle hitter Emma Doyon let the ‘Birds take flight, forcing the WolfPack into a timeout at 8–3. A block from UBC’s Claire Cossarini brought the Thunderbirds to 24–19. The Wolfpack came back, but a Doyon kill sealed the deal for UBC 25–23.
TRU dominated the early half of the second set, leading 11–7, but points from outside hitter Lucy Borowski, setter Izzy Robertshaw and outside hitter Akash Grewal tied the ‘Birds with the Wolfpack at 12–12. A Cossarini kill won UBC the set 25–20.
The ‘Birds led the third set and despite TRU’s offensive effort, unforced errors gave UBC the straight-set win, 25–21.
On November 18, the Thunderbirds started off slow with attack errors and TRU kills forcing a five point deficit. The ‘Birds went into a timeout, but were unable to pick up momentum until a kill from Cossarini gave UBC its first point at 6–1. Robertshaw led an offense that loosened the gap between the two teams; Her sets led to momentum-building kills from Kylee Glanville, Trinity Solecki and Cossarini. The ‘Birds won the first set 25–21.
The second set started with the teams trading points, but a Borowski kill brought fire to the ‘Birds. A series of UBC kills brought the team to 21–10. But this didn’t last long — UBC errors forced a Thunderbird timeout, but the team came back to win the set 25–17. The third set was dominated by UBC by Solecki, Cossarini and Pantovic kills. The ‘Birds downed TRU in the third set 25–14.
Over the weekend, Pantovic wracked up a team-high 20 kills. Cossarini and Robertshaw led the team in blocks with eight each.
UBC head coach Doug Reimer commended the team’s presence at the net.
“Our blocking was pretty solid and a block can be worth more than one point since the hitter may have to change what they’re doing,” said Reimer after Saturday’s game. “That blocking helped us keep some of [TRU’s] key hitters from playing as well as they did [earlier].”
Moving into UBC’s game against the University of Fraser Valley (UFV) Cascades, Reimer said the game will be “a great test” because of the Cascades’ “very experienced line-up.”
“The key thing now is going to be, can we do that with a more experienced block and a more physical team,” said Reimer.
UFV gives UBC first season loss
UBC split the November 24 and 25 weekend against the seventh-ranked UFV Cascades.
Friday saw UBC beat the Cascades in four sets (25–20, 19–25, 25–17, 25–22). Pantovic led the ‘Birds in kills with 13, with Borowski following closely with 9. UFV’s Lauren Attieh led both teams with 15 kills.
On Saturday’s first set, UBC and UFV went back and forth until a pair of kills from L. Attieh gave the Cascades a lead at 20–17. UFV’s momentum continued and a kill from outside hitter and reigning CW and U SPORTS women's volleyball player of the year Gabrielle Attieh, a Cascade ace and another UFV kill sealed the win for the team, 25–21. G. Attieh played for UBC from 2016–2020.
The second set saw Pantovic bounce kills from the outside, giving UBC a 11–8 lead. UBC continued to kill with Borowski and Danielle Price bringing the team to 23–16. UFV came back by capitalizing off a series of UBC unforced errors at 23–21, but two Borowski kills clutched the second set for the ‘Birds.
The third set saw both teams go back-and-forth with neither of them taking a lead larger than five points. A Pantovic attack error and a kill from UFV’s Kinna Fisher won the set for the Cascades, 26–24. A Glanville kill and service run gave UBC a 16–12 lead in the fourth set, and two Borowski kills gave the ‘Birds a 25–20 win, forcing a fifth and final set.
UFV came into the fifth set swinging, with G. Attieh hitting her 1,000th career CW kill. The small lead UFV started the set off slowly diminished with the ‘Birds coming back with strong offense at the net. The set went back-and-forth, with both teams unable to take a lead. Momentum for UFV built after kills from L. Attieh and Talia Attieh. This led to unforced attack, serving and setting errors from the T-Birds, securing UBC’s first regular season loss 21–19.
The Thunderbirds (9–1) will return to the War Memorial Gym to play against the University of Calgary Dinos (4–6) this weekend. First serve is at 6 p.m. on Friday.
