Aaron Martin (UBC Thunderbirds)
VANCOUVER - The No. 6-ranked UBC Thunderbirds women's volleyball team turned in a terrific performance to claim their fourth straight win on Saturday night, besting the Saskatchewan Huskies in straight sets.
The final set scores were 25-20, 25-16, and 25-18.
T-Birds outside hitter Danielle Brisebois (Bolton, Ont.) was dominant on the attack, notching 16 kills on just 31 attempts, many of which were of the spectacular variety. Juliana Kaufmanis (Richmond, B.C.) and Alissa Coulter (Calgary) also inflicted some damage from the outside, collecting seven and six kills, respectively. Middle Ciara Hanly (Calgary) added five kills of her own (on just seven attempts) to go along with her three blocks.
"I thought we had better flow [than yesterday's match]," said UBC head coach Doug Reimer. "A lot of aspects of the game were better tonight. I thought offensively, we had some really good efficiency and we were in system a little more and passing the ball a bit better. We did a solid job on blocking as well, and those two things combined were key for us."
Sabrina Balisky, Josie LeDuc, and Taylor Annala each brought down five kills to tie for the Huskies team-lead.
The T-Birds veterans showed well in the early going, as Coulter and Brisebois combined for seven kills in the games first 20 points. However, Saskatchewan did well to weather the storm, only behind 11-9.
The T-Birds kept pressing, opening up a 16-11 lead heading into the technical timeout.
The 'Birds built up a 20-13 lead when Huskies setter Mackenzie Pek stepped up to the backline. The third-year native of Saskatoon then proceeded to drop back-to-back aces, leading off a stretch that saw the Huskies score six of nine points.
Up 23-19, Reimer called a timeout.
The 'Birds took the set 25-20 just three points later, with the final blow coming on another monstrous Brisebois kill, her ninth of the set.
The Huskies came out strong in the second stanza, picking up four of the frame's first five points. Jina Barker, in particular, did some damage, as the fifth-year setter picked up two kills during that stretch.
After the Huskies got up 7-4, the 'Birds came back with a vengeance, and ripped off an 8-1 run to take a 12-8 lead.
Same as the last set, the 'Birds found themselves up 16-11 at the technical timeout.
Hanly, already having a solid afternoon, continued her impressive performance coming out of the break, notching a kill-and-block double play to give the 'Birds the next two points.
The 'Birds closed the set on an 8-5 run, claiming the 25-16 win on a Huskies block that found its way outside the right sideline.
The third set seemed like a replay of the first, as the two sides battled back-and-forth in the early going, with the Huskies down just 13-11.
In a change from the first two sets, the 'Birds were up just 16-12 at the break, as a well-placed serve from sophomore Laura MacTaggart (Lacombe, Alta.) handcuffed the Huskies receiver.
MacTaggart also ended the match minutes later, as it was her monster kill that gave the 'Birds the 25-18 set win, and their second straight straight-sets win.
The 'Birds will close out their regular season with a big test next week, as they face the No. 2 ranked team in Canada West, the Trinity Western Spartans.
Reimer is looking forward to facing their foes from Langley, B.C.
"It's great to have a weekend like that heading into the playoffs because the intensity gets ramped up a lot," said the head coach. "I thought that tonight, we had a lot of jump and energy, and I hope we can keep that up next week."
IMAGE CREDIT: Bob Frid/UBC Thunderbirds