VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds made things interesting late but couldn't overcome a slow start on Saturday night, as they fell 3-1 to the second-ranked Calgary Dinos (25-20, 25-21, 23-25, 25-21) at War Memorial Gym.
The T-Bird offence struggled out of the gate, hitting just .095 in the first set, and then the defence dipped in the second set when Calgary got hot and hit .389. Things started to turn around for UBC in the third though, as
Demijan Savija helped the 'Birds make it a 2-1 match with five kills in the frame.
The T-Birds looked like they were about to force five sets for the second consecutive night, as they were all tied up with Calgary at 20 in the fourth, but a big kill by Omar Langford and some UBC errors sparked a 4-0 Dinos run. Then with the score 24-21 Calgary, Oleg Podporin's tenth kill of the night ended any hopes of a UBC comeback.
"Yesterday we got the win but it wasn't good volleyball," said UBC head coach
Richard Schick. "Today we played better and so did Calgary, and they were just more consistent coming down the stretch and proved why they are the number two team in the country."
The T-Birds struggled to get in sync at times with some of their players having to play out of their normal positions.
"When you have guys playing in different positions than usual there are a lot of growing pains," said Schick. "It's like asking a pitcher to play shortstop in baseball - it's a lot to ask of guys and we have struggled with consistency all year."
Kyle Duperron led UBC with 17 kills, but
Blair Bann was the most consistent T-Bird this weekend. He had another stellar showing on Saturday, with 27 digs to add to his league-leading total.
"We lean on Blair a lot," said Schick. "He challenges the opposition and he challenges our guys in training. You love having him on the team because he makes guys better. He is another coach on the floor."
Langford led Calgary with 16 kills. Podporin had an efficient day offensively, with 10 kills on .474 hitting.
At 4-10 on the year, the T-Birds are still outside the playoff picture, trailing seventh-place Saskatchewan by just one win. However, the Huskies have two games in-hand over the 'Birds. Meanwhile Calgary improves to 9-3, and could pull into a tie for first with Alberta (11-3) if they win both of their games in-hand.
UBC has a key match-up at home next week against Manitoba, who is currently sandwiched between the 'Birds and Saskatchewan in the playoff race. Calgary will be in Regina to take on the winless Cougars.
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