VANCOUVER — The Cinderella season finally comes with an invitation to the big dance for the UBC Thunderbirds women’s hockey team.
Winners of just one game last season, the upstart ‘Birds not only capped its weekend sweep of visiting Manitoba with a 3-2 shootout win Saturday, but clinched the first home playoff series in program history following Friday’s 4-1 win over the Bisons (10-11-5).
The pair of victories pushed UBC’s record to 15-7-4 and into third place in the Canada West standings, trailing only first-place Calgary (21-4-1) and second-place Regina (16-7-3).
Kaitlin Imai, Emily Grainger, Kaylee Chanakos, Dayle Poulin and Kelsey Halvorson were all honoured for playing their final regular season home games during a seniors night celebration.
UBC, which wraps up the regular season with a pair of games at fourth-place Alberta (16-9-1)this weekend, has won five straight and eight of its past nine.
MEN’S HOCKEY
UBC’s goal of fashioning a top four finish in the Canada West, and thus earn the right to host an opening-round playoff series, took a hit Saturday in Winnipeg.
A victory would have moved UBC into fourth place ahead of Calgary in advance of this coming weekend’s regular season-ending two-game set with No. 1-ranked Alberta, but the ‘Birds twice surrendered two goals over a span of less than 40 seconds, allowing the hosts to tally all of its markers unanswered en route to a 5-1 setback.
UBC (14-9-3), still assured a post-season berth, had opened on Friday with a 3-2 win over the Bisons, getting goals from Justin McCrae, Mike McGurk and Scott Wasden.
UBC’s Friday-Saturday contests against Alberta (20-4-1) are 7 p.m. at the Doug Mitchell Arena.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
Five-time defending CIS champion UBC (19-1) moved to within one more weekend sweep of claiming the Canada West regular season title.
The No. 1 ‘Birds, coming off a 3-0 sweep of host Brandon on Saturday, can win the conference and not only earn a first-round playoff bye, but also play host to the Canada West Final Four championships at War Memorial Gym if it can take care of Calgary’s visiting Mt. Royal Cougars (13-6) this coming weekend.
On Saturday, UBC won 25-21, 25-20, 25-16, getting 15 kills on .452 hitting by Shanice Marcelle. Lisa Barclay with 10 kills in her hometown, and Rosie Schlagintweit with eight more helped UBC win its 18th straight match. The Birds have also won an incredible 36 straight sets.
The only team to beat UBC this season, No. 2-ranked Trinity Western (18-2), continued to remain just a game behind, claiming about as hard-earned a 3-0 win as is possible in its 27-25, 29-27, 25-21 triumph Saturday at the Langley Events Centre over the Calgary Dinos (9-11).
Alicia Perrin with 13 kills and career-high four aces led the Spartans, winners of nine straight who wrap up the regular season this coming weekend in Edmonton against the third-place, No. 6-ranked Alberta Pandas (14-6).
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
No. 5-ranked Trinity Western (15-5) continued to hold down second spot in the conference with one more weekend of games remaining in the regular season.
The Spartans clinched a home playoff date in advance of next weekend’s regular-season finale at No. 1 Alberta, blanking the visiting Calgary Dinos 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 28-26). John Wiebe tied his own TWU record for digs in a three-set match with 19, while Nick Del Bianco supplied a match-high 15 kills.
No. 7-ranked UBC (13-7) stayed in the thick of the battle to host an opening-round playoff series, getting six blocks from Chris Howe and 15 kills from Jarrid Ireland in a 3-1 (25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 27-25) win at No. 8 Brandon (11-9).
NCAA MEN’S BASKETBALL
The Simon Fraser Clan’s tough season in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference continued Saturday at home.
Despite shooting 50 per cent (29-of-58) from the field, the last-place Clan (1-10) wound up dropping a 73-69 decision to Montana State Billings (5-6). Taylor Dunn with 21 points and Anto Olah with 15 points and 10 rebounds led the Clan, who have seven more conference games remaining, including the next one, Thursday at Central Washington (6-5).
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