With files from U of Calgary sports information
CALGARY – Despite pushing their hosts to the limit in both matches, the UBC Thunderbirds were eliminated in the quarterfinal round of the Canada West playoffs following a 3-1 (25-19, 25-17, 29-31, 26-24) defeat to the No. 3 University of Calgary Dinos Friday afternoon in the Jack Simpson Gym.
Allen Meek was the difference for the defending CIS champion Dinos who booked their ticket to the Canada West Final Four next weekend in Edmonton, joining the host Golden Bears.
After falling in straight sets on Thursday, the T-Birds found themselves behind the eight ball early in Friday's match finding themselves in a 2-0 hole. UBC were unwilling to let their season die that quickly and rallied to once again push the Dinos to the limit ultimately falling just short of pushing the match to a fifth set.
"It was definitely a tough one today, but at points, especially in the third and fourth sets, it was the best volleyball we've played all year which was really rewarding for our guys," said UBC head coach,
Richard Schick. "We had some guys step up at key times, but it's a very hard pill to swallow after having that shot in the fourth set to force a fifth. Who knows what could happen in that fifth set."
Calgary was very efficient in the hitting department, nailing 44 and 46 percent of their opportunities in the opening two sets, more than double the percentage of UBC. The 'Birds, on the other hand, missed key serves at inopportune times both in the first and second sets.
After the two relatively lacklustre sets, UBC woke up in the third game giving Calgary all sorts of trouble. The T-Birds charged to an early 8-3 lead setting up a late 18-14 advantage. A Calgary timeout served their side well as the Dinos went on a four point run to tie it at 18 on a Curtis James service ace.
A
Chris Klassen ace put the 'Birds up 21-19 and forced Calgary into another timeout call down this time. Once again the strategy paid off, as Calgary answered back to take the lead at 22-21 on three consecutive UBC hitting errors. However, the T-Birds wouldn't quit, outlasting several serving errors in the late going to push Calgary all the way into the thirties, where they clinched the set 31-29 on two consecutive
Joe Cordonier kills.
UBC staved off five Calgary match point opportunities in the third set and were faced with three straight match points in the fourth set where they trailed 24-21. The T-Birds killed off the trio before finally falling on the Dinos fourth match-clinching opportunity dropping what would be the final frame 26-24 on a block by James and David Egan.
The T-Birds, who played without top-attacker
Demijan Savija, were led by
Robert Bennett who had one of his finest games of the season totaling 16 kills with Cordonier adding 11 and
Ben Chow notching 10. Meek's 17 kills paced the Dinos while Graham Vigrass added 12. Jay Blankenau had a match-high 13 digs for the Calgary Dinos, two better than UBC's
Blair Bann who closed out his CIS career as the Canada West's all-time digs leader with more than 1,000 to his credit.
Schick credited his team's depth and perseverance with pushing the defending CIS champions: "We used a lot of different guys, and a lot of them stepped up and played really well. It was a great fight. I'm very proud of what the guys accomplished this year. This wasn't the way we envisioned it ending, and that's the toughest thing to swallow right now. But we'll move on from here, and I want to thank the fans and everyone else involved for all their support this year."
Friday also marked the final match for setter
Ryan Zwarich who wrapped up his UBC career with a 41 set-assist performance.
-30-
