VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds fell in straight sets for the third consecutive time Friday night. The 3-0 defeat came at the hands of the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack by set scores of 25-18, 25-20 and 25-20 at War Memorial Gym.
The loss drops the Thunderbirds to 1-6 on the season and extends their losing streak to five matches. The Wolfpack climb to within one game of .500 as they improve to 3-4.
The T-Birds have been mired in a funk of late with lack of execution being singled out as a major contributing factor.
"We're struggling to play the game right now," explained UBC head coach
Richard Schick. "We still control a little bit more of our own play and it comes down to execution. We have to execute what we want to do to give ourselves a chance," added Schick.
The first set was even in the early going with the T-Birds leading by as many as three at 9-6. Attack errors by UBC proved costly and allowed the Wolfpack to take a 16-14 lead into the second technical timeout. The teams went point for point until late in the set when Gord Perrin, who dominated play in the opening frame collecting eight kills, combined with Behlul Yavasgel to close out the set at 25-20.
A similar script was followed in the second game with UBC taking an early lead before the Wolfpack answered with a 4-0 run to lead 8-6.
Robert Bennett did his best to keep the T-Birds in the match hammering seven kills to lead all attackers in the set but it wasn't enough as runs of 4-1 and 5-1 on the strength of Perrin's powerful attack claimed the set for the visitors.
The Thunderbirds could not establish a consistent attack in the final set, never leading by more than one point at any time. Star outside hitter, Kevin Tillie, picked up the slack for the 'Pack as he collected three consecutive kills to put his side ahead 16-13 at the second break. Two kills by Perrin, followed by two aces by Colin Carson, provided the dagger for Thompson Rivers before two errors by UBC ended the match.
Perrin led all players with 19 kills on just 29 swings and the league leading attacker had no errors on the night. Tillie added 10 kills and middle Michael Hammond picked up seven kills on 11 attacks as TRU hit for an impressive 42.5% efficiency.
Bennett led UBC with 12 kills with middle
Joe Cordonier registering seven kills on 14 attacks with four block assists.
The Thunderbirds will look to rebound tomorrow as these two sides face each other Saturday night at War Memorial Gym. Game time is slated for 8:00 p.m.
-30-
