Aaron Martin (UBC Thunderbirds)
VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (11-3) were unable to find any semblance of momentum on Saturday night, dropping a three-set decision to the Brandon Bobcats (7-9) at War Memorial Gym.
A terrific showing from the visitors, Brandon walked away with set wins of 25-22, 25-15, and 25-12.
The Bobcats were led by fifth-year outside hitter Shanlee McLennan, who paced the club in both kills, with 12, and service aces, with five. Jodie Baker picked up seven kills of her own, while three other Bobcats notched at least four.
For the home side, Laura MacTaggart (Lacombe, Alta.) led the attack in the absence of star Danielle Brisebois (Bolton, Ont.), as the second-year outside hitter picked up nine kills and two service aces. Victoria Behie (Nanaimo, B.C.) finished second on the club, with five kills
The first set didn't start out ideally for the home side, as Brandon raced out to a 10-1 lead. The 'Birds were unable to solve the Bobcats' service game early, as Brandon picked up four service aces during their game-opening streak.
The timeout seemed the do wonders for the Blue and Gold, as they stormed back, earning nine of the next 12 points to bring themselves back to within striking distance of the 'Bobcats, down just 13-10.
The Bobcats regained a bit of momentum, picking up three of the next four points to stretch their lead to 16-11 at the technical timeout.
The T-Birds continued to press coming out of the short respite, eventually equalizing at 19-19 after picking up four straight points, a stretch that included a couple of brilliant dropping service aces from MacTaggart.
The two sides continued to go blow-for-blow in the later stages of the opening frame, eventually landing in a 22-22 deadlock. The Bobcats then ran off the final three points, taking the first set 25-22.
The second set saw the 'Birds get off to a much better start, as the hosts earned a 4-2 lead to open the stanza. The lead didn't last long, as Brandon quickly reeled off three straight points to go up 5-4.
After jostling with the 'Birds for the lead for a few points, the Bobcats opened up an 11-7 lead midway through the frame, pushing UBC head coach Doug Reimer to call a timeout.
The timeout didn't do much to turn UBC's fortunes, as the 'Bobcats continued to stretch their lead, picking up four of the next five points to go up 15-8.
The 'Birds then rallied a bit, closing the gap to five, heading into the technical timeout down 16-11.
Further on in the set, a couple of costly errors from the 'Birds stretched the Brandon lead to seven, at 22-15.
A terrific serve from Leech, a Courtney Roberts bump that just found against the back line, and a monster kill from McLennan sealed the second set for the Bobcats, taking it by a score of 25-15.
The 'Birds didn't fare much better in the early going of the third set, as the 'Bobcats opened up a 8-3 lead right off the bat.
The two sides traded shots, keeping that same five-point margin until the scoreboard read 12-7. From that point, Brandon pulled ahead even further, picking up four straight points to go ahead 16-7.
The Bobcats closed out the set and match just minutes later, picking up four of the match's final five points to claim the 25-12 decision.
After the contest, Reimer was frank in his assessment.
"We've got to rebuild some belief in what we were doing before Christmas," said Reimer. "I kind of expected this all along, with the long layoff from November, when it comes to games that matter, and adding in the injury situation – that didn't help. Still no excuse, though."
The long-time Thunderbirds head coach was also impressed with the Bobcats' performance.
"As poorly as we played, I want to give Brandon credit – I think they acquitted themselves really well," said Reimer. "They played free, and we didn't. We just got tighter and struggled to get any kind of flow going offensively or defensively."
The 'Birds will get a chance to right the ship on the road next week, as they head out to Edmonton to take on the Alberta Pandas for two games.
Brandon will travel to Winnipeg to begin a Thursday-Saturday home-and-home series next week.
IMAGE CREDIT: Rich Lam/UBC Thunderbirds