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QUARTER-FINAL #1: CIS championship: No. 1 T-Birds sweep SMU, two wins away from 3-peat
EDMONTON (CIS) – The two-time defending gold medallist
University of British Columbia Thunderbirds kicked off the 2010 CIS
women’s volleyball championship in impressive fashion as they
swept the No. 8-seeded Saint Mary’s Huskies in straight sets
of 25-17, 25-17 and 25-13 in the first quarter-final of the
national tournament at the University of Alberta’s Main Gym,
Friday afternoon.
Championship website (live webcasts): http://english.cis-sic.ca/championships/wvball
Highlights
CIS WVBall - Match 1 Post Game
Top-seeded UBC dominated the stats sheet, racking up a team 37%
attack percentage to go with four aces, and 13 combined blocks.
Sophomore outside hitter Shanice Marcelle (Victoria) led the Canada
West champions in kills with 12, while fifth-year Liz Cordonier
(Vancouver), named CIS player of the year on Thursday night
recorded nine kills, one ace, five digs and two solo blocks.
First-team all-Canadian middle Jen Hinze, a fourth-year senior from
Vancouver, was named UBC player of the match with nine kills, a 64%
hitting percentage, and two digs.
The Birds did make eight service errors, but according to head
coach Doug Reimer, they were mistakes that resulted in challenging
the Huskies.
“The first two sets were close, but I liked that we were
making errors of commission,” said Reimer, who was named CIS
coach of the year for a record fifth time this season. “We
were really going for it both serving and attacking so we might
have missed a few too many but it was aggressive which is what you
want.”
“Jen was good for us today,” Reimer continued.
“She brought a very physical game offensively and they had to
respect that. Liz set a great tone early in terms of her attacking
and she made good reads all game at the net. They both brought a
lot of aggression to their front row play.”
The Huskies were led by junior Kerri Smit of Shubenacadie, N.S.,
who finished with eight kills and a match-high 12 digs. Smit was
named Saint Mary’s player of the match, while junior left
side Alison Beaver had seven kills.
As a team, Saint Mary’s recorded just 23 kills, compared to
UBC’s 47.
The Thunderbirds are looking to become the first team to three-peat
since the Alberta Pandas won a record-tying six straight banners
from 1995 to 2000. The Birds made quick work of the AUS champion
Huskies, who are making their fourth appearance at the national
championship in the last five years, by using superior blocking and
sublime offence.
UBC opened the match with three straight points, two off blocks,
before eventually picking up an 8-5 lead at the first technical
timeout.
“I thought we were making really good reads in terms of
blocking,” said Reimer.
Saint Mary’s clawed back to within one point, 10-9, but by
the second technical timeout, the T-Birds were back out in front
16-11, and never looked back.
The Huskies continued to hang around in the second match, getting
as far as tying the score at 9-9, but soon enough UBC was back out
in front, by as many as seven, and closed it out with a 25-17
score.
The Thunderbirds put the Huskies out of commission quickly in
third, opening up an 8-2 lead, and then jumping to 19-9, before
closing out the match 25-13.
With the win, UBC advances to Saturday’s first semifinal to
be played at 6:30 p.m. Mountain Time. The T-Birds will face either
No. 4 Regina or No. 5 Laval.
The Huskies are relegated to Saturday’s consolation round and
will square off against the losers of the Regina-Laval duel at 1
p.m.
CHAMPIONSHIP
SCHEDULE & RESULTS (all times LOCAL: Mountain Time)
Friday, March 5
Quarter-final #1: No. 1 UBC 3, No. 8 Saint Mary’s 0 (25-17,
25-17, 25-13)
14:30 Quarter-final #2: No. 4 Regina vs. No. 5 Laval (SSN Canada
webcast)
18:30 Quarter-final #3: No. 3 Manitoba vs. No. 6 Toronto (SSN
Canada webcast)
20:00 Quarter-final #4: No. 2 Montreal vs. No. 7 Alberta (SSN
Canada webcast)
Saturday, March 6
13:00 Consolation #1: Saint Mary’s vs. Loser quarter-final
#2
14:30 Consolation #2: Loser quarter-final #3 vs. Loser
quarter-final #4
18:30 Semi-final #1: UBC vs. Winner quarter-final #2 (SSN Canada
webcast)
20:00 Semi-final #2: Winner quarter-final #3 vs. Winner
quarter-final #4 (SSN Canada webcast)
Sunday, March 7
12:00 5th place
15:00 Bronze medal (SSN Canada webcast)
18:00 Championship final (SSN Canada webcast)
-CIS-
