‘Birds fall to WolfPack to open weekend series

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (4-1) ran into an inspired Thompson Rivers Wolfpack (5-0), dropping their first match of the Canada West season in straight sets (25-22, 25-23, 25-16) in a battle between the number two and number seven ranked teams in the country.

UBC didn’t have enough answers for the powerful outside hitters of their Kamloops rivals, as Keira Gent and Rida Erlalelitepe led the Wolfpack attack with 12 kills apiece, and TRU ended the night with a team kill percentage of .319.

UBC fourth-year setter, Mackenzie Campbell, was a bright light for the ‘Birds on the night, as she utilized her starting role to put up 34 assists, two aces, and nine digs.

“We have to block better, we have to serve better if we want to have success against that team,” said UBC head coach Doug Reimer. “Having said that, in the first two sets they are outhitting us, outblocking us and we were only three points away. We had some younger players step up and compete well tonight. Now we regroup and get ready for tomorrow.”

The first set was a back-and-forth affair as the teams traded leads throughout. Akash Grewal checked into the game for UBC and immediately gave a lift to her teammates with some nice kills and her usual deftness from the service line. But Gent would prove too much for the UBC defense as she fired a massive, windmill kill for set point.

Set number two was more Gent and Erlalelitepe, as TRU attacked at a gaudy .467 clip. UBC was paced by some spirited play from third-year middle, Leonora Barbulovich-Nad, who followed a nice kill with some fine work from the service line. But it wasn’t enough as Erlalelitepe finished the set off with a trademark kill from the left flank.

Set three was all TRU, as they raced out to an early lead, never looked back and sealed the straight-set victory.

UBC will have their chance for revenge Saturday night, when the two squads square off again at 5:30 p.m. at War Memorial Gym.