VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds dropped their season opener on Friday night against last year's CIS silver medal-winning Trinity Western Spartans. The Spartans rode a hot offence to a 3-0 win (25-12, 25-20, 25-17) at War Memorial Gym.
The Spartans showed off the kind of potent attack that got them to the national title game last year, getting plenty of production from all over the court. Left side Mikiah Schalk led the way with eight kills on .615 hitting, while middles Rudy Verhoeff, Lucas Van Berkel, Dan Jansen Van Doorn and Josh Doornenbal all contributed at least six kills as part of an extremely efficient Trinity Western offence that hit .457 in the match.
"They forced us to play volleyball. They keep the ball in play, make good choices and pass the ball well," said UBC head coach
Richard Schick. "We didn't get a chance to play our game. They took control right off the bat and were solid throughout."
While the Spartan veterans made their presence felt, the T-Birds played most of the match with three first-year players on the court, as setter
Ian Perry and outside hitters
Ben Chow and
Milo Warren all got their first taste of regular season CIS action.
Chow finished second on the team with eight kills while Warren chipped in four. Perry had 30 assists in his debut, guiding the offence to a .269 hitting percentage. Fourth-year
Demijan Savija led the T-Bird attack with 15 kills on .355 hitting.
"From the start Demijan was wanting the ball and we need all our guys doing that," said Schick. "Even though some of the guys are new, it's important to learn that mentality of wanting the ball."
Reigning CIS Libero of the Year
Blair Bann also had a strong showing with a game-high 12 digs.
The T-Birds got better as the match went on, bouncing back from a tough first set to make things close in the second with a late rally, and then posting their best offensive numbers in the third when they hit .379. They also lead for the early portion of the final set, and although they were unable to avoid the sweep, Schick was optimistic about the potential he sees in his team.
"We came out pretty pumped up, but pumped up in a tight way, and we never really let ourselves go," said Schick. "We know what we are capable of doing, and being able to go out there on weekends and do it is the challenge for any team. We definitely take some positives from this because even though it's a 3-0 loss, we really didn't give ourselves a chance, and that's on us to fix."
The Spartans and T-Birds will meet again on Saturday night at War Memorial Gym to finish their two-match series. Game two begins at 8 p.m.
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