The UBC Thunderbirds looked the part of a defending national champion Friday night.
 
The Winnipeg Wesmen were held to .017 attacking and fell to the No. 1-ranked T-Birds in four sets (25-11, 25-16, 22-25, 25-16) in a Canada West conference women's volleyball match at the Duckworth Centre.
 
The Wesmen lost their fourth straight and fell to 1-4 while UBC improved to 3-0.
 
Winnipeg hit in the negatives in Sets 1 and 2, but rallied with an improved third set in which the Wesmen shook off a two-point deficit at 21-19 with a three-point run to take the lead. After a Lucy Borowski kill tied it at 22, the Wesmen tore off three more points to close the set. 
 
But the Thunderbirds quickly regained their swagger in Set 4, winning the first seven points of the set to cruise to the set and match victory.
 
The Wesmen were led by Selva Planincic, who had eight kills, seven digs and two aces. Portia Switzer had 11 digs and Brooke Duncalfe 10.
 
For UBC, Akash Grewal had 13 kills, 12 digs and eight aces, matching a Canada West high for aces in a four-set match this season. 
 
Borowski chipped in with 10 kills.
 
The two teams meet again Saturday at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are available at wesmen.ca/tickets