The Thunderbird women’s volleyball team had plenty of reasons to celebrate this weekend.
They took down the University of Alberta Pandas the week before, handing one of the top-ranked teams in the country their first pair of losses in the season. This weekend, they were able to continue their hot streak and take down the Thompson Rivers University (TRU) Wolfpack in two games.
They will now move on to the Canada West Final Four.
The ’Birds dominated Friday night’s opening game of the conference quarter-finals, winning the game in three sets. They took the first set by a score of 25-16. The Wolfpack came back strong in the next two sets, but UBC held off their attack. The T-Birds won the second and third sets by scores of 25-23 and 26-24 respectively.
UBC's offence was on absolute fire throughout the game. They recorded seven aces, with left-side hitter Juliana Kaufmanis scoring three of those seven. The team also recorded 41 kills, with Kaufmanis and Danielle Brisebois recording 13 and 11 of those respectively.
Saturday’s game played out slightly differently. The Wolfpack came in looking to rebound from Friday’s loss and force a tie-breaking game. Their offence was in full gear. TRU recorded 62 kills, 12 more than the ’Birds. They also recorded 70 digs and six aces.
Still, the ’Birds fought to take the first two sets by scores of 27-25 and 26-24 respectively. This was due to the T-Birds' strong defensive play, with 14 blocks in the game. The Wolfpack answered by taking the third set 25-19 and the fourth 25-18, forcing a decisive fifth set.
The Wolfpack fought hard but were ultimately defeated 15-13. UBC completed their postseason sweep in front of over 900 people.
The ’Birds will travel to Edmonton to take on the Trinity Western University Spartans in the Canada West Final Four tournament which starts on Friday, March 10.