VANCOUVER - Paul Sanderson's 22 kills on Saturday night not only led his Brandon Bobcats to an important 3-0 win (25-15, 25-19, 25-22) over the UBC Thunderbirds, but also gave him 1253 for his career, setting a new Canada West record.
Sanderson began the night 21 kills behind Saskatchewan alumnus Adam Ens, and after registering just four in the first set, the fifth-year Melbourne, Australia native picked up the pace in a big way, registering nine in each of the final two sets to earn a weekend split for the Bobcats and put his name in the record books.
The Bobcats got through the first two sets without too much trouble, much like they did last night against the T-Birds. But there would be no five set miracle comeback at War Memorial Gym on Saturday, as the visitors were able to hold off a hard charge by the 'Birds in the third set, thanks largely to an 8-3 run that took them from a 17-14 deficit to a 22-20 lead. Sanderson kills accounted for six of those eight points.
"We were very lethargic and we have to know that if we wan't to be a team that can compete for a championship we have to put three of those matches together like last night back-to-back-to-back," said UBC head coach
Richard Schick. "Winning one wasn't good enough and we aren't happy about it."
Schick said his team struggled to handle serves on Saturday, which put them on their heels early on and led to trouble in other aspects of play.
"We got frazzled right off the bat with our serve receive," said Schick. "It was non-existant at the start for whatever reason, and we weren't sure who was going to take the ball so there was too much confusion and that led to other parts of our game going down."
The T-Birds looked poised for another comeback attempt in the third set, jumping out to a big early lead and holding it until late in the frame. But their failure to capitalize on all their chances proved to be too much of an issue to overcome against a tough Brandon side. UBC made 18 errors and hit .176 as a team.
"We missed I don't know how many overbumps when we made a good serve, and we just didn't reward ourselves with anything," said Schick. "Had some free swings to kill the ball and we didn't do it, and there were just too many missed opportunities. We have to play with urgency."
Sanderson remained efficient even with his high volume of attacks. His 22 kills came on .367 hitting, and he also added an ace, which puts him just seven aces away from setting another Canada West career record.
Demijan Savija and
Milo Warren both had 10 kills for the T-Birds. First-year
Ben Chow had seven kills on .312 hitting, and middle
Joe Cordonier also had seven kills on .400 hitting.
UBC falls to 5-9 on the year, but they can lock up a playoff spot their next time on the court. They will have to wait two weeks though as a bye awaits them this weekend, but the eighth-place Regina Cougars will be at War Memorial Gym on February 4 and 5 to fight for their slim playoff hopes.
The Bobcats go to 5-7, and will take on those same Cougars on the road next weekend.
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