'Birds Split Opening Weekend Series With Spartans

10/27/2012 10:38:00 PM

Langley, BC - The two time defending CIS national men's volleyball champions repsonded as expected after a Friday night loss to UBC at War Memorial Gym, defeating the Thunderbirds in the back end of a home and home series 3-1 (25-20, 25-22, 20-25, 25, 17) Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre.

Similar to Friday's game the Spartans won the first two sets but then lost three straight after that, TWU opened Saturday's tilt with consecutive wins. And also like Friday, UBC rallied to take the third set. But, this time, TWU stopped UBC's momentum in the fourth set as it came back from an early 8-4 deficit to win the set by its largest margin all night.

For UBC, Quentin Schmidt (Calgary, AB) led the way with 14 kills and one block. Ben Chow (Surrey, BC) added seven kills, two aces and five digs and Alex Russell (Surrey, BC) had six kills, two blocks and an ace. Setter Milan Nikic (Calgary, AB) had 33 assists.

Scott Plocktis, who took over at as the Spartans starting setter after make-shift setter Steven Marshall broke his ankle Friday, collected 50 assists as he guided the Spartans to a .309 attacking percentage and TWU's first win of the year.

The Spartans took a 6-3 lead in the first set and from there were in control most of the way. The Thunderbirds hung within four or five points throughout but were unable to close on a Spartans team that ran away with a 25-20 win. Nick Del Bianco, who had the set-winning kill, led the Spartans with four kills and two aces while it was Chow with two kills and an ace leading a UBC side that hit just .036 compared to TWU's .250. The Spartans had three blocks while UBC didn't earn any.

In the second set, it was the T-Birds with a slight lead through the early stages but, with the Spartans keeping it close, the home side finally took the lead for the first time after a Brad Kufske kill made it 18-17. Shortly thereafter, a well-executed pipe ball saw Del Bianco give TWU a 22-19 lead, forcing UBC into a timeout. The T-Birds got two quick points out of the timeout, but TWU responded with three of the next four points to pull out the win. It was the Del Bianco and Kusfke show in the set as the two combined for 14 kills, with Del Bianco collecting eight and Kufske earning six. The T-Birds Schmidt had five kills to pace UBC.

The Thunderbirds turned things around in the third set as they opened a 12-6 lead and never trailed the rest of the way. The Spartans climbed to within two points at 22-20 but three straight points from the T-Birds ended TWU's rally. Alex Russell earned his first three kills of the match to help the T-Birds earn the win while Chow and Schmidt registered three kills in the set.

In the fourth set, UBC scored the first four points and later found themselves up 8-4 and looked primed to pull away. However, TWU responded with a 5-0 run, capped by a Kufske kill that gave TWU its first lead of the set, 9-8. With Plocktis well settled in, the Spartans kept pushing forward as they opened a 16-13 lead at the technical timeout. From there, TWU kept rolling as they pulled away late, finishing with an eight-point win. A Kufske ace finished the set, at 25-17, and the match.

The Thunderbirds return home for another tough test next weekend, when they play host to the Alberta Golden Bears. Alberta lost just one set in a weekend sweep of Saskatchewan. Games are Friday November 2, 8:00 pm and Saturday November 3, 7:00 pm at War Memorial Gym.

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