EDMONTON – The UBC Thunderbirds were glass slipper-smashers in the Canada West Semifinals, denying the Saskatchewan Huskies' bid to go from the play-in round to gold medal match. The fourth-seeded T-Birds took down their eight-seeded opponents in straight sets on the neutral site of Alberta's Saville Community Sports Centre.

Lucy Borowski tallied nine kills, nine digs and three blocks. Akash Grewal put up nine kills, three digs and three aces, while Issy Robertshaw dished 28 assists.

"I thought everyone played really well on our team," said Grewal. "Everyone came in and did their jobs. We were nice and composed, even when it was hard to be. It came down to our team effort, and everyone doing their job…at the end of the day it was focusing on what we could control, and not what was on the other side of the court."



Taryn Hannah led the charge for the Huskies with a match-high 12 kills along with seven digs. Keely Anderson had six kills, seven digs and three blocks.

UBC came out of the gates strong, with a kill from Trinity Solecki giving them a 9-5 lead in the first set. The Huskies, however, came right back and tied the game up at 9-9 with an ace from Abbey Klein.

The two teams traded kills from there, with the outside hitters on both sides attacking the ball with plenty of force. Up by just a single point at 16-15, the T-Birds swung the momentum in their favour with a rally where they exerted tremendous offensive pressure, culminating in a back row kill from Grewal.

A kill from Borowski a few points later stretched the lead further, followed by an ace from Grewal to help close out the set at 25-21.



The Thunderbirds' defence was on point to begin the second, with a series of digs and blocks earning them a 9-5 advantage for the second straight set. This time, the blue and gold continued to push their lead, with a kill and ace from Grewal followed immediately by an Emma Doyon kill to force a Saskatchewan timeout at 14-7.

The Huskies stepped up their own defensive pressure from there, cutting the lead down to four on a number of occasions, but couldn't get any closer. The T-Birds continued to grind out the points they needed and eventually closed out the set at 25-20.

It was all Saskatchewan to start the third as they scored the first four points, and went up 7-2 after a big block from Jessica Bergstrom and Keely Anderson. UBC then responded with three in a row capped by a block from Borowski and Emelie Silovs, before an ace from Solecki a little later knotted things up at 9 apiece.

The two teams went back and forth in the middle portion of the set, with a series of ties before a run of kills from Borowski, Silovs and Solecki broke things open with a 19-16 lead. That momentum carried through the rest of the set, with Grewal getting the final kill to send UBC to their second straight Canada West Final.

The T-Birds will face off against either Alberta or Manitoba for gold at 6:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday night. UBC has the chance to win its first Canada West title since the 2013-14 season.