VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds will head into the semester break on a positive note after
Demijan Savija's big night helped them earn a weekend sweep over Saskatchewan with a 3-1 win (25-21, 18-25, 25-18, 25-19) on Saturday night at War Memorial Gym.
Savija started a 9-1 UBC run in the fourth set that essentially ended any hopes of a Huskies comeback. He racked up 23 kills on .444 hitting to lead an efficient UBC attack that finished with a .283 team hitting percentage, book-ending that effort by controlling the first set with seven kills on eight attacks and finishing the night with a big kill on match point.
"We definitely needed him tonight and he was able to perform," said UBC head coach
Richard Schick. "I also thought the setters did a good job executing what we wanted to do. When there was a block there he was able to use it as a tool, and when there was no block he put the ball away consistently."
Ian Perry had 35 assists in split duty with fellow setter
Ryan Zwarich, who picked up all of his 10 assists in the second and third sets.
Aside from a rough second set where they were hindered by serve-receiving issues, the T-Birds were in the driver's seat for most of the match. They hit above .300 in every set but the second, and held the Huskies well under .100 in each of the final two sets.
"We've had that tendency to either come out guns blazing and then take the second set off, or take the first set off and come back after that so we are still searching for that full consistent effort," Schick said.
The Huskies had eight blocks through the first two sets but managed just three more after that as the T-Birds began to spread the offence around the court. UBC's
Robert Bennett had three kills in each of the last three sets to finish with nine on the night, and
Milo Warren bounced back from a tough second set to pick up six kills on 15 attacks the rest of the night.
Blair Bann led all players with 16 digs.
Matthew Busse led Saskatchewan with 19 kills, but no other Husky had more than eight. Braden McLean had seven block-assists.
The T-Birds finish the first half of the season in fifth place at 4-6, and will look to build on that in the new year when they resume action in Calgary on January 14. The Huskies fall to 1-7, and their quest to turn things around in the second half also begins on January 14 when they host Manitoba.
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