The 30-year wait is finally over for the UBC Thunderbirds women's volleyball team.
The T-Birds, featuring Kyla Richey and Natalie Eades from Roberts Creek, saw an amazing playoff run come to a close last Saturday night in Fredericton, N.B., winning the school's first national women's volleyball championship since 1978.
UBC fought back challenge after challenge during the three-day tournament, edging the Montreal Carabins in the gold medal match 21-25, 25-21, 20-25, 28-26, 20-18.
But UBC's semifinal win on Friday night was probably even more improbable than winning the championship match.Alberta, the tournament's number one seed and the hottest team in the country, had UBC on the ropes, leading their match 2-0 and up 20-16 in the third set.
UBC dug deep and stormed back, winning the third set 25-23, and carried that momentum to win the fourth set 25-11. Alberta righted the ship in the fifth set, opening up a 6-1 lead, but UBC stormed back, rewriting the CIS championship history books with a nine-point run to stun Alberta before sealing the win with another five-point run in the 15-7 set and match victory.
"Just mentally and physically we were well prepared and just battled really hard," said UBC head coach Doug Reimer. "We faced lots of adversity along the way. If you had told me after the Canada West playoff that we'd qualify for nationals and would have a weekend to top that, I would have challenged you on that. It speaks to the competitive toughness we developed during the playoffs and the season. I just know that in the fourth and fifth set everyone was on board and believed both nights that we were going to win."
UBC started the tournament on Thursday, Feb. 28, with a 3-0 win over Sherbrooke.
Richey played one game in the match against Sherbrooke and also saw some game action in the match with Alberta and limited action in the gold medal final. Eades saw some game action against Alberta. "It's absolutely surreal," said Richey. "At the very beginning of the year we talked about our goals and working for the same achievement. We worked hard to get there, and to just qualify for the nationals was huge. We played Manitoba in the Canada West semifinals and if we didn't win that match, our season was over. Manitoba was really tough, but after we beat them, I think we all had a feeling that nothing was going to stop us at nationals.
"All the girls on the bench had this special ritual. Before every match we had a huddle and told each other that if we were called in for a point we'd go in and try our best to win that point.
"When I think back on the weekend, it's still unbelievable. To be there and be in a national final, let alone win it in your first year, is amazing."
In an ironic twist of fate, Richey's mom Jan played on the last UBC championship team. Jan surprised Richey with a visit to Fredericton and along with senior player Carla Bradstock's mother Christine, who was also on the championship team with Jan, sat in the stands all weekend cheering on their daughters.
"We're sitting having breakfast on Thursday and all of a sudden mom walks in with a big smile on her face," Richey recalled. "The rest of the team knew she was coming, but no one told me. It was pretty cool to see her and it was special having her there."
Jan also said it was a special experience for her. She brought along her gold medal and gave it to Richey to hold onto for the weekend.
"I was very proud to be there. The girls played phenomenal volleyball all weekend long. The gold medal match was fantastic. Montreal was a tough team," said Jan. "When I gave Kyla the medal many of the other girls didn't touch it until after the first game. Many of them came up to me and talked about the championship, what it was like to win it, so it was really special to connect with the team that way."
Eades said the experience of winning a championship is something she will not soon forget.
"Going from playing on the Coast then to SFU, which was not a good situation, and then suddenly finding myself on a national championship team is fantastic," said Eades. "It was quite a great opportunity to play for a coach like Doug. This team is amazing. Everyone got along together so well - it was like being in a big family."
Eades said it was tough at times adjusting to being a bench player, but added it was an honour to play behind two national team players at her position.
"It's frustrating at times not being on the court because you want to do so much more and help your team, but you have to always be ready because you never know when you'll be called upon," she said. "Winning that match on Friday night and rolling off 14 straight points was just ridiculous. It was just an amazing thing to be a part of. I so proud to be a member of this team."
Richey had a strong freshman season with the T-Birds, appearing in 38 games and was sixth on the team in kill points. Eades played her first year with UBC after red-shirting the past two years at Simon Fraser. She appeared in 24 games this year, picking up 20 kills and averaging 0.38 blocks per game.
UBC is off to China in early May for a tour with a Brazilian team and a pro European team and then Richey hopes to train in Winnipeg with the senior national team for a good part of the summer.
"With Kyla there is no doubt her future here is bright. She has taken strong steps this year and there is no doubt in my mind that she will be a fantastic university volleyball player," said Reimer. "It's not easy being a sub and going in for a few points. You always have to be ready and that's not an easy task, but Kyla and Natalie both accepted that role and did a fantastic job.
"Natalie too had a great year. I had no qualms with using her and having her play. Natalie improved so much throughout the year. They both need more competitive game experience. They were both key parts to our team, even though they weren't starting players."
