 |  |
SEMIFINAL #1: No. 2 UBC will defend national title
| Montreal | UBC |
|---|---|
|
K:
Marie-Sophie Nadeau - 16
B: Mélanie Roy - 5 D: Emmanuelle Marin - 13 SA: Pamela Drapeau - 4 |
K:
Kyla Richey - 13
B: Jessica von Schilling - 6 D: Kyla Richey - 14 SA: Lisa Barclay - 4 |
| TEAM STATISTICS | Montreal | UBC |
|---|---|---|
| Hitting % | .121 | .182 |
| Blocks | 8.0 | 12.0 |
| Digs | 65 | 61 |
| Aces | 6 | 9 |
Courtesy of McMaster University sports information/ Photo credit Cameron Dunlop
HAMILTON, Ont. (CIS) – The second-seeded University of British Columbia Thunderbirds will go for their fifth consecutive CIS women’s volleyball title on Sunday after they defeated the No. 3 Montreal Carabins 25-15, 20-25, 25-19 and 25-22 in the first semifinal of the national tournament at McMaster’s Burridge Gymnasium, Saturday night.
UBC, whose current run of four straight CIS titles is two short of the all-time record shared by Alberta and Winnipeg, has now reached the gold-medal match in each of their last seven appearances at the tourney dating back to 2005.
In Sunday’s 4 p.m. Eastern final - live on Cable 14 in Hamilton and on ssncanada.ca – the T-Birds will face either top-ranked Alberta, the team that beat them in the Canada West championship match last weekend, or No. 5 McGill. UBC already holds the all-time mark of eight CIS banners.
Montreal, which reached the gold-medal game only once in program history (a 3-2 loss to UBC in 2008), will play for gold at 1 p.m. on Sunday.
Kayla Richey, the CIS player of the year from Roberts Creek, B.C., led UBC with 17.5 points on 13 kills. She also was credited with a game-high 14 digs.
“It’s a really big honour to be back in the final. We’ve worked so hard this entire year and gave it our all in the semifinal,” said Richey. “We’re not looking at this as defending our title, we’re going for it like its our year. We’re going to go and compete for that banner tomorrow.”
Rayel Quiring of Langley, B.C., was named the Player of the Match for UBC posting 11 points including nine kills, one ace and four block assists. She also chipped in eight digs. Shanice Marcelle of Victoria B.C, also had 12 points in the win.
Montreal was led by Marie-Sophie Nadeau of St.-Aime, Que., who recorded 17.5 points on 16 kills, and one ace and a half block. Teammate Melanie Roy of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu was named Player of the Match for Montreal with seven points and 11 digs.
Nadeau was inspired by her team’s play which she thought will bold well for tomorrow’s bronze medal match.
“We wanted to play UBC... we wanted to play the best and see where we were,” said Nadeau. “Of course we are disappointed with the loss, but our team fought hard. It’s just one winner and one loser, that’s all. We know we’ll be ok tomorrow.”
UBC’s Brina Derksen-Bergen of Abbotsford, B.C. was the game’s best setter with 33 assists while Montreal’s Maude Menard-Ouellete finished with 30.
The T-Birds looked to have Montreal’s number early taking the first set convincingly 25-14 and then rattling off a 5-1 lead in the second set. However the game turned into a heavy-weight battle with Montreal using a 4-0 run to bring the score even. After an exhausting battle which saw the teams trade points, Montreal took its first lead since the opening set at 14-13. They would lose that lead but earn it back for good at 20-19. The Carabins would take the second game 25-20.
In the third set, Montreal refused to go quietly – giving everything they had against the powerhouse UBC team keeping the score close until the T-Birds put up a 6-0 run to close the game 25-19.
The fourth set saw momentum see-saw back and forth with UBC taking the final lead for good at 10-9. They would pull away by seven points at one point, but Montreal continued to claw back putting the score at 21-20. Lisa Barclay of Brandon, Man., delivered the critical kill for their 22nd point and UBC didn’t look back closing 25-22.
Richey likened the game to a championship and credited her team with refocusing on pushing them past the Carabins in the final two sets.
“That kind of felt like the final, [Montreal] is an excellent team and we know you have to win the semifinal to advance,” said Richey. “After they took that game in the second we knew we had to go for it to win and advance”
STAT LEADERS
UBC
Kills: Kyla Richey (13), Shanice Marcelle (10)
Points: Kyla Richey (17.5)
Blocks: Rayel Quiring (4)
Digs: Kyla Richey (14)
Service aces: Lisa Barclay (4)
Assists: Brina Derksen-Bergen (33)
Player of the match: Rayel Quiring
Montreal
Kills: Marie-Sophie Nadeau (16)
Points: Marie-Sophie Nadeau (17.5)
Blocks: Mélanie Roy (4)
Digs: Emmanuelle Marin (13), Mélanie Roy (11)
Service aces: Paméla Drapeau (4)
Assists: Maude Menérd-Ouellette (30)
Player of the match: Mélanie Roy
CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE & RESULTS
NOTE: Live webcast of all games on SSN Canada.
NOTE: Live broadcast of championship semifinals and Sunday games on
Cable 14 (Hamilton).
Friday, March 2
13:00 Quarter-final #1: Montreal 3, Trinity Western 1
(25-22, 11-25, 25-21, 25-23)
15:00 Quarter-final #2: UBC 3, Queen’s 0 (25-19, 25-19,
25-16)
18:00 Quarter-final #3: McGill 3, Saint Mary’s 2 (26-24,
25-18, 20-25, 23-25, 15-13)
20:00 Quarter-final #4: Alberta 3, McMaster 1 (25-19, 25-15, 24-26,
25-18)
Saturday, March 3
13:00 Consolation #1: Trinity Western 3, Queen’s 0
(25-22, 25-13, 25-23)
15:00 Consolation #2: Saint Mary’s 3, McMaster 2 (24-26,
14-25, 25-9, 25-21, 15-7)
18:00 Semifinal #1: UBC 3, Montreal 1 (25-15, 20-25, 25-19,
25-22)
20:00 Semifinal #2: McGill vs. Alberta
Sunday, March 4
11:00 5th place: Trinity Western vs. Saint
Mary’s
13:00 Bronze medal: Montreal vs. TBD
16:00 Championship final: UBC vs. TBD
-CIS-
