The UBC women’s volleyball team had a big challenge in store for them for their final home games of the season. They squared off against the number one ranked team in the country, the University of Alberta Golden Pandas.
The Pandas came into the weekend double-header with a perfect conference record of 20-0. The ’Birds, ranked fourth nationally coming into Friday night’s game, had a 16-4 conference record.
With alumni and former coaches in the stands, the ’Birds did not disappoint. They took the first set in Friday’s game, winning it by a close score of 25-22. The Golden Pandas responded in dominating fashion, taking the second set 25-18. Determined, UBC held on to take the third set at 27-25 and the fourth by a score of 25-23.
Friday’s win gave the T-Birds encouragement and momentum going into Saturday night. After all, they had knocked down the country’s top team and spoiled their perfect record. Still, Alberta took the first set 25-21 with a vengeance. The ’Birds responded by taking the next two sets by scores of 25-15 and 15-13 respectively. The Thunderbirds were playing well and only one set away from claiming yet another upset victory. They were all smiles.
The Pandas made their move. The visiting team took advantage of a good number of UBC serve faults to win the set by a close score of 25-22. This was worrisome considering that the ’Birds had recorded 12 aces in the game, double the amount made by the Golden Pandas.
But the T-Birds focused for the fifth and final tiebreaker set — a winner-takes-all contest. At first it looked like Alberta was going to take it, but the ’Birds defence did not relent, having recorded 19 total blocks in the game. UBC battled more than three Alberta match-points to finally retake the lead and eventually end the set at 18-16.
The win was immediately followed by a senior night ceremony honouring the fifth-year seniors on both teams.
The ’Birds will now travel to Brandon to take on the Brandon University Bobcats on February 24 and 25. These will be their final two games of the season before the start of Canada West playoffs.
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