‘Birds battle but fall to WolfPack to close out weekend series

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (4-2) fell to the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack (6-0) for the second straight night (25-14, 25-23, 19-25, 25-17) as the two Canada West heavyweights played a spirited match at War Memorial Gym.

Hail Ward led both the attack and defence for the Wolfpack with 12 kills and 16 digs. Ella Ungemach had a nice match for the ‘Birds with eight kills, 14 digs and three blocks.

“I’m not going to sugar-coat it,” said UBC Head Coach Doug Reimer. “We didn’t do enough in our attack or our defending this weekend. We had some momentum after winning the third set and then had a five-point lead in the fourth set, but we just couldn’t capitalize. We’ve got to regroup and come back better next week.”

Ward was sensational in set number one for TRU, smoking several blistering kills off the right side, as they stormed out to an early lead and never looked back.

Set two was a more competitive affair, with several lead changes. UBC was bolstered by second-year outside hitter Alexa Turner-Malinek, who came off the bench and gave the ‘Birds a spark with a series of high-flying kills. But UBC couldn’t overcome a strong run of play from TRU’s Maria Dancheva, as the third-year middle had a dynamic run of blocks and attacking, pushing the Wolfpack to a second-set victory.

UBC played its best volleyball of the weekend in set number three, as Ungemach and Aimee Skinner proved a powerful two-pronged attacking force for the Blue and Gold. UBC looked like it had some momentum, winning the set and giving the War Memorial faithful something to cheer about.

But the fourth set was the Rida Erlalelitepe show, as the Wolfpack’s superstar outside hitter dazzled with a series of kills, blocks and a timely service ace to seal the victory for the Wolfpack.

UBC will head to Brandon, Manitoba next weekend, looking to get back in the win column against the Bobcats. TRU will look to keep their record unbeaten as they host the MacEwan Griffins on their homecourt in Kamloops.