VANCOUVER – After some early success the UBC Thunderbirds held off a late charge and battled their way to a 3-1 (25-16, 25-10, 25-27, 25-20) victory over the Brandon Bobcats late Friday afternoon at War Memorial Gym.
 
It's the fourth victory in the last five outings for UBC who improve to 12-11 after entering the final weekend of Canada West regular season play occupying seventh spot in the standings while Brandon's losing streak increased to seven consecutive games.
 
Anna Price led the way for UBC with a game high 17 kills and 18 points while Gabrielle Attieh and Jayde Robertsen added 10 kills each. Robertsen also chipped in with four service aces while Tessa Davis enjoyed a game high seven aces. Setting the tone for the Bobcats was Danielle Larocque's all-around game that included a team high nine kills and five blocks while Nicole Ashauer registered eight kills. Ravyn Wiebe had a team high four aces and 12.5 points for Brandon
 
"I think Brandon really picked up their entire game but especially defensively in the third and fourth set," said UBC head coach Doug Reimer. "That's why it's best of three sets to 25 and it doesn't matter what the score was in the second set, if you don't win three of them. They were bringing a lot more and started to push in the fourth as well for sure. I thought we did some good things and are best play is good enough but this highlights we need to maintain an intensity level and consistency throughout at this time of year."
 
The T-Birds were ready for the early start, executing well as evidence from an early Robertsen Kill and the first of her set high two aces to take an 11-4 advantage while also forcing the Bobcats first timeout. Following the break, a crafty Robertsen tip at the net followed by a powerful back row kill from Attieh extended the 'Birds lead to 20-9. Brandon would answer back with Larocque making her presence felt in scoring the next three points for the visitor's courtesy of a kill and back-to-back blocks to pull within 20-12 but UBC would answer back. Price would count one of her set high four kills in the period and deliver a key rejection to secure the 25-16 first set victory.
 
UBC was more efficient in the second set improving from a .219 hitting percentage in the opening frame to .400 in the follow up. A Robertsen block helped the 'Birds double their lead at 10-5 before the first of a set high five aces for Davis put UBC up 13-5. Later it was Larocque doing more damage at the net counting her fourth block on the night to trail 15-6 before UBC pulled away with help from the squads sixth ace of the set from Kacey Jost to go up 22-8 before completing the 25-10 second frame victory. Robertsen lead the way for UBC with four kills while setting the pace for Brandon was Wiebe with three kills.
 
Despite the T-Birds jumping out to an early 4-0 third set lead with help of back-to-back aces from Courtney Hillier it would turn out to be a very close back and forth frame with the visitors clawing back. A big Attieh Kill gave UBC a brief edge at 11-10 before Ashauer responded with two kills in a row to go ahead 12-11. A Robertsen kill put the 'Birds in front 16-15 at the technical timeout and the teams would continue to trade points going forward until an ace from Caitlin Le gave Brandon set point at 26-25 ahead of an Ashauer kill secured the second set 27-25 for the Bobcats.
 
The re-energized Bobcats managed to get out to a 12-9 lead to begin the fourth set, causing UBC to call a timeout and the break was beneficial for the hosts who responded by scoring the next five straight points. Kayla Oxland took over with three straight aces followed by an Attieh kill to help the 'Birds take 16-13 lead into the technical timeout. The Bobcats would storm back with the help of key kills from Larocque and Ashauer to knot things up at 20-20 before two more aces from Robertsen gave UBC match point at 24-20. Sealing the deal was Cara Kovacs going sky high for the final kill of the night to take the final set 25-20 and a 3-1 victory.
 
The teams meet again Saturday night to close out the Canada West regular season with a 6:00 p.m. PT start at War Memorial Gym.