VANCOUVER – The No. 9 UBC Thunderbirds kicked off the Canada West regular season in dramatic fashion on Friday, coming back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the No. 2-ranked and defending national champion Trinity Western Spartans 3-2 at War Memorial Gym.
BOX SCORE
The fifth set was up for grabs early on, with both sides fighting desperately to gain the upper hand. UBC managed to do it with a big kill from middle
Chris Howe (Salt Spring Island, BC) and then a great setter dump from
Milan Nikic to give the 'Birds a two point lead at the technical timeout.
A big kill out of the middle from
Alex Russell (Surrey, BC) and two outside kills from
Quentin Schmidt (Calgary, AB) had the home crowd smelling the upset, putting UBC up 12-9, and the Spartans couldn't stand up to the pressure, committing back to back errors down the stretch that ended the match.
It was UBC's first win over Trinity Western in conference play since November 2009.
“They played like they were going to win the game no matter what,” UBC head coach
Richard Schick said of his team. “The first two sets guys were playing really well, but we were playing physically and not mentally engaging ourselves. I just told the guys we weren't playing poorly at all, we just needed to get mentally in it and bring some emotion, and they really started to do that.”
MVB: T-Birds v. TWU (Oct. 26, 2012) Gallery
Schick credited his third-year libero and floor general
Ian Perry (Abbotsford, BC) for keeping his team focused and energized when the Spartans had the momentum.
“I think Ian does a really good job out there trying to get guys engaged,” Schick said. “We have a talented group but a quiet group and we are still searching for an identity. We just have to realize how engaged we need to be out there both physically and mentally.”
Perry had a match-high 13 digs Friday.
Another source of energy for the 'Birds Friday was Russell. The six-foot-ten second year middle tied for a match-high with 12 kills on .500 hitting while adding three blocks.
“Alex loves to play the game and it shows by what he does out there. He really enjoys his success but he really enjoys other people's success too,” Schick said. “I noticed that watching him play on the video with the national team and it's really good to see here.”
Schmidt also added 12 kills for the 'Birds and had five blocks on the outside.
Ben Chow (Surrey, BC) had 10 kills and 12 digs for UBC.
Brad Kufske and Nicholas Del Bianco each had 12 kills for the Spartans. Dan Jansen Van Doorn added nine and led the team with seven blocks.
UBC broke a six-game regular season losing streak against Trinity Western, which dated back to Nov. 29, 2008.
The teams now head back to Langley to finish up the home-and-home series with a match on Saturday. The next home action for UBC comes next weekend when they host the No. 1-ranked Alberta Golden Bears.
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