KAMLOOPS, BC - In the battle for sixth place in the Canada West standings, the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack earned a come from behind 3-2 victory (21-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-20, 15-10) over the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday night.
"It was a bit of a tough one to take, as they all are when you lose in five. We definitely played well over the first three sets but then kind of trailed off as the match went on," said UBC head coach
Richard Schick.
After falling behind 2-0, the host WolfPack (8-9) put together a comeback over the final three sets to take a one game lead over UBC (7-10) in the conference standings. Both teams have already booked their tickets to the post season but will have to wait until Saturday night to figure out who they'll meet in next weekend's CW quarterfinals.
Not surprisingly, it was Kevin Tillie leading the charge for the hosts with a game-high 24 kills. He was joined in double figures by Michael Hammond who tallied 10 kills, and no errors, on 14 swings. Tillie, Hammond, and Alex Davis each tallied one solo and three blocks assists as the 'Pack notched 11 total team blocks.
UBC was led by a trio of outside attackers.
Milo Warren finished with a team-best 21 kills while
Tanner Kozak picked up 16 and
Ben Chow 13 as UBC was without standout right side
Demijan Savija who is out with a foot injury.
Yari Kozel was solid in the middle for the 'Birds with nine kills on 18 attacks and four block assists.
"Yari had a great match tonight, not hitting an error and being a leader in every aspect. Tanner also did a good job on the right side filling in for Demijan," noted Schick.
The visiting 'Birds jumped out to the early lead thanks to a solid performance on offence. They hit .303 in the first set and .424 in the second but weren't able to maintain that pace throughout the match.
In the opening set, UBC led 16-15 at the second technical timeout before taking control down the stretch with a three point run out of the break.
UBC once again led 16-15 in the second set but this time around the two teams exchanged points until TRU took a 21-20 lead. The T-Bird offence found its stride, however, and five kills from UBC attackers were enough to get the visitors ahead.
The T-Birds jumped out to a 13-10 lead in the third set but the WolfPack responded with a 5-1 run. TRU extended their lead to 22-20 before UBC leveled the score at 22-22. A pair of kills from Davis though were enough to get the 'Pack their first set of the night and set them on the comeback trail.
In the fourth and fifth sets, TRU jumped out to early leads that the 'Birds were not able to erase as they completed the comeback.
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