First serve in the CIS national bronze medal match for the UBC Okanagan women’s volleyball team is at 1 p.m. PT .
Game Times (PST)
CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sport) national championship bronze medal match
SATURDAY, MARCH 12th, 2016:
$ PM | (3-seed) UBC Okanagan Heat (33-3, 22-2, 2-2) vs the (5-seed) UBC Thunderbirds (22-15, 17-7, 2-2)
Webcast | Live Stats | Tickets
@ Healthy Living Centre (HLC), Brandon, MB
| UBCO | TALE OF THE TAPE REGULAR SEASON |
UBC |
|---|---|---|
| 22-2 | W-L | 17-7 |
| 9-1 | Last 10 | 6-4 |
| 5-0 | Last 5 | 4-1 |
| 70-15 | Sets | 55-28 |
| 15-0 | 3 set matches | 11-3 |
| 5-0 | 4 set matches | 5-4 |
| 2-2 | 5 set matches | 1-0 |
| 12.61 (2) | Kills/set | 12.83 (1) |
| 9.47 | Opp. Kills/set | 10.62 |
| .240 (2) | Hitting Pct. | .249 (1) |
| .089 | Opp Hitting Pct. | .157 |
| 11.67 (4) | Assists/set | 11.99(1) |
| 1.98 (7) | Aces/set | 2.35 (1) |
| 15.20 (1) | Digs/set | 12.29 (12) |
| 13.02 | Opp. Diggs/set | 11.78 |
| 2.49 (2) | Blocks/set | 2.17 (5) |
#3-seed UBC OKANAGAN HEAT (33-3, 22-2 Canada West)CanWest Standings: 1st reg season.
Last week: 1-1 // (Fri W, 3-1) vs UBC (Sat L, 3-2) vs. TWU
CIS Nationals: Fri W, 3-0 vs Dal; Sat L, 3-1 vs Tor
Streak: Lost 1
Head coach: Steve Manuel (15th season – 5 in CIS)
Playoff record: 2-2
Playoff finish: Canada West finalists
Overall record vs. CIS teams: 33-3
Top 10 final ranking (Feb. 23): No. 1
Top 10 best ranking: No. 1 (8 polls)
Top 10 number of weeks ranked (15 polls): 15
Conference award winners: Steve Manuel (coach)
Conference 1st team all-stars: Katie Wuttunee (M)
Conference 2nd team all-stars: Katy Klomps (M), Brianna Beamish (LS/OH)
Conference all-rookie team: None
CIS championship best result: First appearance
CIS championship last appearance: First appearance
CIS championship sequence: First appearance
2014-15 Record: (27-9, 19-5) (T1st)
2015 CanWest Playoffs: 2-2 – 4th
2015 CIS Tournament: N/A
Last CanWest Title: N/A
Last CIS Title: N/A
Saturday the Heat: The Heat women’s volleyball team will once again have to get the Thunderbirds to achieve a season long goal as they need to defeat UBC to come home with a national medal. The bronze match is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. PT against the OUA champs and undefeated in league play Toronto Varsity Blues.
Current Form: In their first CIS championship match the Heat dispatched the AUS champion Dalhousie Tigers 3-0 (25-17, 25-10, 25-15). In the semifinal, after winning the first set UBCO dropped the next three to fall to U of T. 3-1 (21-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-21)
Key Players: Katy Klomps, who put down nine blocks in the three-set win, was named Player of the Match versus Dalhousie, Katie Wuttunee had a career high 20 kills to earn the award versus U of T. Wuttunee was named a All-Canadian middle at the awards banquet.
Season Summary: The UBC Okanagan Heat finished the Canada West regular season atop the conference, with 22 wins and 2 losses, setting a conference record and a single season wins record. The team led by Canada West Coach of the Year Steve Manuel in his 15th season landed as preseason favourites on the national polls.
To open the season UBCO rolled off five straight wins before falling in five sets on Halloween. Just three losses on the season for the Heat and all three went five sets. After the loss in October the Heat won 12 matches in a row, not losing for three months, they fell once in February and then closed the record setting season with another five match winning streak.
A merciless schedule UBC Okanagan faced all three of the Canada West Final Four teams in three consecutive weekends of competition during the regular season, between January 15 and February 6. Of those matches, the Heat only lost one match, consequently against the team that would defeat them in the Canada West gold medal match, Trinity Western. It is the first time that UBC Okanagan has won the Canada West regular season championship, and hosted the Final Four, since joining the league prior to the 2011/12 season.
Along with coach Manuel UBC Okanagan placed a trio of fifth years on the Canada West All Star team. Middles Katie Wuttunee and Katy Klomps were repeat selections and were joined by outside hitter Brianna Beamish. Wuttunee. The squad exorcised their postseason demons against UBC in the Final Four semifinal match, defeating the Vancouver team in the playoffs for the first time and earning their first ever spot at the CIS Women’s Volleyball Championship. The Heat lost the Canada West gold championship match in five sets to Trinity Western, but will still have a chance to take home a national title in Brandon, MB.
Overall Head to Head: (2-8 in regular season, 1-2 in postseason) The Heat had never beaten UBC prior to this season. This year UBCO hasn’t lost to their storied sister school, going 2-0 in league, 1-0 in the post season, and 1-0 in the preseason.
#5 seed UBC THUNDERBIRDS (22-15, 17-7, 4-2 Canada West) CIS National Ranking: No. 7
CanWest Standings: 4TH
CIS Nationals: Fri W, 3-1 vs Montreal; Sat L, 3-1 vs TWU
Head coach: Doug Reimer (19th season)
Regular season record: 17-7
Regular season standing: 4th Canada West
Playoff record: 3-1
Playoff finish: Canada West bronze medallists
Overall record vs. CIS teams: 23-12
Top 10 final ranking (Feb. 23): No. 5 (tied)
Top 10 best ranking: No. 5 (3 weeks)
Top 10 number of weeks ranked (15 polls): 14
Conference award winners: None
Conference 1st team all-stars: None
Conference 2nd team all-stars: None
Conference all-rookie team: None
CIS championship best result: 10-time champions (2008 to 2013, 1978, 1977, 1974, 1973)
CIS championship last appearance: 2015 (6th place)
CIS championship sequence: 21st appearance in 22 years (missed 2007)
UBC Thunderbirds:
- Have the only upset in the tournament. As the five-seed the T’Birds dispatched the RSEQ champion Montreal Carabins in the opening round. Fell to Trinity Western in the semifinal.
- Won the third and final berth from Canada West. In the CW quarter-finals they hosted fifth place Brandon in the best-of-three quarter-final last weekend
- Brandon came into the quarter-final series as the hottest team in the conference having won 12 straight matches
- UBC won both versus Brandon (3-0, 3-2) UBC needed to comeback from down 2-1 to win series.
- Was led in quarter-final by Daniel Brisebois on both nights the fourth year leftside finished the two game set with 21 kills.
- The Thunderbirds are a storied Women’s volleyball program. Won six straight national championships from 2007/08 – 2012/13. They have won the Canada West championship six of the last 10 times. Overall they have 13 CW Championships and 10 CIS championships.
- Coached by Doug Reimer (18 years), from Kelowna BC // Conference record: 282-64 (.815) // 6 CW Championships // 6 CIS Championships // 2 x CW and CIS coach of the year.
- Player to Watch:
- UBC – Danielle Brisebois | Left side | 4th year | Bolton, ON
- Left side hitter Danielle Brisebois led the Blue and Gold in kills per set (3.85) and hitting percentage (.305) – figures that put her in the top five in the Canada West in both categories. During the regular season, UBC led the league in service aces per set (2.35), kills per set (12.83), hitting percentage (.249) and assists per set (11.99).
- Leaders:
- Kills per set: 3.85 – Danielle Brisebois, left side
- Digs per set: 2.47 – Samantha Patko, libero
- Hitting percentage: .305 – Danielle Brisebois, left side
- Service aces per set: 0.45 – Laura MacTaggart, left side
- Assists per set: 9.53 – Alessandra Gentile, setter
preseason preview courtesy of Canadawest.org
Number of new players: 5
Key Recruits (Name (POS/Hometown/Last Team)): Siobhan Finan (OH/Vancouver, B.C./Thunder Volleyball), Sarah Haysom (Mid/North Vancouver, B.C./BCO Volleyball), Anna Price (OH/North Vancouver, B.C./BCO Volleyball), Laura Worsley (Lib/Vancouver/Thunder Volleyball), Irem Eren (OH/Izmir, Turkey/Karşıyaka Spor Kulübü)
Number of departing players: 3
Key Losses (Name (POS/number of years with team)): Lisa Barclay (OH/5), Abbey Keeping (MB/5), Rosie Schlagintweit (OH/5)
Key performer: Danielle Brisebois (2014-15 Second Team Canada West All-Star, member of Canada’s Universiade Team)
Coach Quote: “I am very excited to start the new season and despite graduating key personnel, I feel that our team has the players that are ready to step up and play the key roles that will be needed to help us challenge the top teams in Canada West this year. With a lot of strong teams, we will have to continue to improve throughout the year, as we move along the road to the playoffs.” – UBC head coach Doug Reimer.
Key storyline: UBC will be trying to make the CIS women’s volleyball championship tournament for the 21st time in 22 years. The team has graduated three mainstays in Canadian national team member and former league and national MVP Lisa Barclay, former All-Canadian Rosie Schlagintweit and Canadian Universiade team member Abbey Keeping. Outside hitter Danielle Brisebois, a 2014-15 Canada West Second Team All-Star, leads the group of returning players, which also includes Juliana Kaufmanis and Alissa Coulter. Younger players such as Laura MacTaggart and Emily Cicon made an impact as they earned more playing time last season and will look to continue their improvement. The Thunderbirds also had a strong recruiting class with the addition of five players, four of which were stars in B.C., while another has joined the team from Turkey.