VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds fell victim to an impressive blocking performance by Manitoba on Saturday night, as they were eliminated from playoff contention after a 3-1 loss (25-15, 18-25, 26-24, 25-21) at War Memorial Gym.
The Bisons had five blocks in each of the final two sets and 17.5 overall. Aside from the second set when they hit .452, the T-Birds struggled to find holes in the Manitoba defence, hitting .000 in the third and .050 in the fourth.
"Great teams punish you when you give them opportunities, and Manitoba just punished us a little bit more," said UBC head coach
Richard Schick. "They were a little hungrier and a little more confident, and that was probably the difference."
Dane Pischke bookended the match with great performances for the Bisons. Like Friday night, he again came out on fire in the first set, racking up five kills on 10 attacks, and picking up four block-assists. The T-Birds were able to contain him in the second and third sets, holding him to just one more kill and no blocks, but in the fourth he added another four kills, two solo blocks and two block-assists to lead Manitoba to an important victory.
The Bisons are now 7-8 on the year, a half-game up on Saskatchewan (6-8) for the final playoff spot. The loss puts UBC at 4-12 with just two games remaining, making it impossible for the 'Birds to catch Manitoba in the standings.
The sweep was anything but easy for Manitoba though, as the 'Birds pushed them to five lengthy sets on Friday, and were just a couple points away from taking a 2-1 lead on Saturday.
"We worked extremely hard, and we have been doing that since day one, but sometimes it doesn't show because we miss an assignment," said Schick. "It just shows you that you need a lot of guys to get going at the same time."
Demijan Savija led the T-Birds with 14 kills and seven block-assists.
Joe Cordonier had five block-assists and two solo jobs to go along with seven kills.
John Galloway led the Bisons with 16 kills and 12 digs. Chris Voth chipped in 13 kills and Pischke had 10, while also leading the blocking effort with two solos and six assists.
The T-Birds wrap up their season next week in Alberta, but Schick doesn't expect his side to lack any enthusiasm against the nation's second-ranked team.
"These matches coming up are important for Alberta, so we want to go in there and play well," said Schick. "We don't want any pity. We want to keep going out there and proving ourselves right to the bitter end."
The Bisons will host a single match against Winnipeg next week before a crucial two-game home series against Saskatchewan the following week, which will likely decide who gets the final Canada West playoff spot.
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