For the second-to-last weekend of the Canada West regular season, the UBC Thunderbirds travelled to Abbotsford looking to reinforce their place near the top of the conference. Sitting third in the standings entering Friday night, UBC faced a University of the Fraser Valley Cascades (UFV) squad holding onto seventh — not a horrible position — but far from secure, with tenth being the cutoff for post-season eligibility. By the end of the night, it was UBC who would improve their standing, jumping Manitoba for second, but the match itself proved far more competitive than the standings might have suggested.
In a four-set battle that featured dramatic momentum swings, dominant blocking and stretches of uneven play from both sides, UBC ultimately emerged with a 3–1 victory. It was the kind of match that tested composure — and reinforced the Thunderbirds’ ability to respond when challenged.
If there was one early pattern, it was this: UBC does not always start fast.
The Cascades claimed the first two points of the match after a pair of Thunderbird attack errors sailed out of bounds, quickly building a surprising 4–0 lead. For a moment, UBC looked unsettled — out of rhythm and searching for answers. Then Lucy Borowski stepped in.
Her first-point block, together with Jocelyn Lenarcic, put UBC on the board and seemed to steady the group. When Borowski enters a match with visible determination, she often alters its trajectory. Friday was no exception.
Gradually, the Thunderbirds leaned into their defensive strengths. Their blocking, typically a complement to their attacking game, became their primary source of offence early in the set. As UFV committed multiple service errors, the score tightened to 6–4 for UFV, then eventually 8–8. From there, the set transformed into a tightly contested exchange.
Borowski continued to lead the charge, delivering a key kill to tie the score at 10–10 before UBC found another gear. A lightning-quick point from Issy Robertshaw caught the Cascades completely off guard, and moments later, a committed defensive effort — highlighted by a diving effort from UBC’s Elizabeth Lee to keep the ball alive — helped push the ‘Birds ahead 15–12.
With players like Borowski and Robertshaw putting their team back in it, UBC’s confidence started to grow — spreading across the court.
‘Birds outside hitter Kylee Glanville added two consecutive points to extend the lead to 18–13, and although UFV mounted a brief push to close the gap to two, UBC refused to relinquish control. Lee preserved the lead with a kill even as UFV answered, with standout Cascades attacker Talia Attieh keeping the Cascades within striking distance with her rapid attacks. Despite UFV’s best efforts, however, UBC’s presence on the net proved overwhelming.
Lenarcic delivered what may have been the defining moment of the set — an emphatic block where she was seemingly suspended in mid-air — before teaming with Robertshaw to form an imposing wall. With UFV struggling to find attacking lanes, the Thunderbirds surged ahead and closed the set 25–18, not giving space for the Cascades to come close to the finish line. After weathering an uncertain start, UBC had found its momentum.
The second set, however, told a different story.
Once again, UFV opened the scoring, but this time, the Thunderbirds responded immediately. A long rally early in the set showcased UBC’s resilience, and once up 5–2, they appeared far more settled than they had been in the opener. More importantly, they looked connected — operating as a cohesive unit rather than relying on individual flashes. For the ‘Birds, this was particularly encouraging, given that earlier in the season, a lack of cohesion had often led to mistakes.
But volleyball rarely follows a predictable script. UFV began adjusting at the net, blocking consecutive attacks from Lee to narrow the deficit. While UBC maintained a modest lead through the middle portion of the set, the Cascades never allowed the deficit to grow too large. Then came the shift.
After trailing 13–7, UFV rattled off a surge of unstoppable kills that flipped the score to 15–13 for the Cascades — a 8–0 run. Suddenly, the Thunderbirds looked uncomfortable, perhaps even a touch complacent. A Borowski kill briefly tied things at 15–15, but the Cascades answered immediately and continued pressing.
UFV’s serve became increasingly dangerous, generating multiple aces and forcing UBC out of their system. Their blocking followed suit, repeatedly shutting down Thunderbird attacks. Now up 23–16, the tone of the set had fully changed.
UBC appeared disjointed, struggling to rediscover the fluid teamwork that defined their first set run and their early second set lead. They attempted a late push, but the gap proved too wide. UFV closed the set convincingly at 25–18, a reminder to the T-Birds that matches on the road rarely come easily. Having been outscored 18–5 since UBC’s early six-point lead, the ‘Birds could be in trouble.
But if anything, the response in the third set revealed more about UBC than the stumble itself.
Yes, the Cascades claimed the opening point yet again — by now, almost a ritual — but the Thunderbirds quickly asserted themselves, jumping ahead 3–1. Glanville energized the bench with a powerful back-row kill, and through the early stages, both teams matched each other point for point. At 5–5, then 10–10, and again at 12–12, neither side could generate sustained momentum.
Yet, there was a subtle difference in UBC’s posture. They looked calmer, more synchronized. Breaking the tie, Robertshaw delivered a perfectly placed ace that UFV barely reacted to, and Borowski followed with one of her own. Even in a back-and-forth set, the Thunderbirds appeared slightly sharper — a reflection of the consistency that has defined much of their season.
Still, the Cascades refused to fade.
With the score sitting at a tense 19–18 for the T-Birds, the set remained up for grabs — and that’s when UBC’s experience surfaced. Lenarcic, one of the longest-tenured T-Birds, played a crucial role down the stretch, helping stabilize the defence while the attack regained rhythm. Moments later, after several attack errors and kills from both sides, Borowski, the fifth-year senior, rose for a decisive kill on set point, sealing a 25–21 victory and restoring UBC’s lead, up two sets to one.
If the third set demonstrated composure, the fourth demanded it. UFV stormed ahead 5–1 behind strong blocking, once again forcing the Thunderbirds to chase early. But as has often been the case this season, UBC adjusted rather than panicked.
Sparked by a quick-reaction kill from Robertshaw — the ‘Birds completed the reset, drawing back even at 10. The Cascades continued to challenge at the net, attempting to push the contest to a fifth set. Then, Lenarcic stepped back to the service line and delivered a timely ace, helping ignite a decisive Thunderbird run. From there, UBC’s defence elevated to its highest level of the night.
Consecutive blocks by UBC and attack errors by UFV pushed the lead to 19–15, followed by a couple of authoritative blocks and kills that stretched the advantage to seven. At 23–16, victory appeared close — but closing matches is rarely straightforward.
Echoing their earlier second set collapse, the Thunderbirds allowed UFV to score multiple points in a row, with the Cascades going on a 6–1 run to claw back within two, trailing only 24–22, injecting late tension into the gym. For a moment, it looked like these two squads would need to fight out another set — with UFV having all the momentum.
But UBC regrouped just in time, with a final, emphatic kill by Sol Henson sealing the set and the match, winning 25–22.
This game wasn’t flawless volleyball, but it was sophisticated.
For UBC, the victory reinforced a familiar identity: a team capable of absorbing pressure, making adjustments and trusting its systems when momentum wavers. Their blocking, in particular, altered the match repeatedly, while Borowski’s presence provided stability whenever the contest tightened.
UFV, meanwhile, showed the kind of persistence that makes lower-seeded teams dangerous in the post-season. Their serves, scoring runs and defensive stretches exposed lapses in the Thunderbird formation — lessons UBC will likely welcome with the playoffs approaching.
The teams met again the following night, where UBC removed any lingering doubt with a commanding straight-sets win to complete the weekend sweep and prepare for their last weekend of games this regular season, this time against Vancouver's close relative, the UBC Okanagan Heat.
With the regular season nearly complete, every performance carries added weight. And if Friday proved anything, it’s that even when the Thunderbirds don’t play their cleanest match, they remain exceptionally difficult to beat — for a team with championship aspirations, that may be the most important trait of all.
