volleyball recap//

T-Birds sweep opening weekend in Winnipeg

UBC’s women’s volleyball team swept its opening weekend against the University of Winnipeg Wesmen, 3–0 and 3–2, in Winnipeg. 

Friday’s first set saw the teams trade points until a Thunderbird run of points, which allowed the team its first large lead of 18–12. The Canada West eighth-ranked Wesmen weren’t ready to let the set go yet, and worked to bring the score up to 22–17. The ‘Birds called a timeout after an attack error by Akash Grewal, leading to a Grewal kill which forced a Wesmen timeout and kill. Two ‘Bird kills — from Lucy Borowski and Tianna Kehler — won the first set for UBC.

In the second set, the ‘Birds showed their strength on the service line. The set started with a Grewal kill and back-to-back aces. Once the Wesmen got going, another two Grewal aces shut them back down. The set ended with a Kehler kill and an ace from setter Issy Robertshaw. 

The last set saw T-Bird errors and Wesmen passion, specifically from Winnipeg’s Grace Vallis and Jaya Dzikowicz, who led the team with nine and eight kills, respectively. Despite early-on UBC mistakes, a run of points by ‘Birds and an unfortunate Wesmen ball handling error gave the team their first regular season win. 

Saturday’s game saw more competition than Friday’s, with the Wesmen winning two sets more than the day before. Winnipeg started off strong, leading 2–1 in sets, especially when it came to kills. The team boasted .300 and .267 attack percentages in the sets they won, compared to UBC’s .062 and .030. 

Despite a strong start, the Wesmen failed to continue their momentum, leading to many attack errors and a -.034 attack percentage in the fourth set, with eight errors and seven kills, while UBC boasted ten kills on six errors. A Winnipeg service error failed the Wesmen and gave UBC a chance to win the game in five sets.

The fifth set saw the teams go back-and-forth until a Vallis kill and block gave the Wesmen a two-point lead of 5–3, forcing a UBC timeout. Service, attack and reception errors continued to make the teams trade points, with the Wesmen in the lead. But kills from UBC’s Jocelyn Lenarcic and Grewal, and a Wesmen attack error into a Lenarcic ace, gave the ‘Birds new life, leading 10–9. 

A Borowski kill, Robertshaw ace and Borowski/Kehler block brought the ‘Birds to 13–11. Another unfortunate Wesmen ball handling error — mimicking Friday’s game — gave UBC its first season sweep. 

Over the weekend, Borowski led the team in kills with 26 and Grewal boasted 13 aces — 8 of which were on Saturday, marking a career best. Libero Olivia Furlan saw 22 digs with outside hitter Trinity Solecki following with 21.

The Thunderbirds’ next game is the team’s home opener on Friday, October 25 at 7 p.m. in War Memorial Gym against the 13th-ranked University of Regina Cougars.