WINNIPEG - The hottest team in Canada West men's volleyball was looking for a spectacular upset, a weekend sweep of No. 4 Manitoba on Saturday night.
Thanks to clutch play late in hotly-contested sets, the No. 8 UBC Thunderbirds (8-4) were able to do just that, beating the Herd (7-4) in four sets, 3-1 (25-15, 34-32, 24-26, 25-21).
BOX SCORE
"It was a pretty solid performance by our guys as a as whole," said UBC head coach
Richard Schick. "We knew Manitoba would come out stronger tonight, which I felt they did but we came out stronger and played complete sets. We played three complete sets for the first time this year, other than maybe the Regina matches, so it was really good to see."
The win was the seventh straight for the Thunderbirds.
Leading the way for UBC was outside hitter and Winnipeg native
Jarrid Ireland, who had a loaded line of 19 kills and two digs. UBC's 62 kills was the most by a Canada West team this season in a four-set match.
The Bisons got an inspired performance from captain Dane Pischke, who put up 18 kills and five digs in a losing effort. The Thunderbirds out-blocked Manitoba 14.5 to 12.
"From defence to blocking to serving, we really took care of things on our side," said Schick.
The first set was dictated by UBC middle and Team Canada junior
Alex Russell, who set up an impenetrable wall of blocks at the net. With Manitoba setting their middle Joseph Brooks early and often for the attack, Russell's blocking was the difference in a set that opened up down the stretch, with the Thunderbirds eventually winning 25-15. UBC closed on a 10-2 run.
Manitoba wasn't going anywhere, however, and showed it in the longest set played in a Canada West match so far this year. Every time one team threatened to take control, the other responded. The two squads were tied on 23 occasions and neither led by more than three points.
With the score 23-22 in favour of Manitoba, UBC called a timeout and then won the next point on a
Noah Derksen kill. The T-Birds took the lead on a
Chris Howe block to get to set point only to see the Bisons win the next two points after a timeout of their own. Manitoba did themselves no favours by floating three serves long after going ahead 25-24. At 32-32, Russell delivered a kill for UBC, followed up by one from Ireland to end the marathon game.
A visibly frustrated Manitoba team came out firing in the third. Strong outside blocking gave them an early four-point lead, and although they lost it, they were able to close the deal at 26-24 and push the match further.
In the fourth, UBC came out and finally got success with their outside hitting, as Bisons blockers often got stuck in one-on-one situations after three sets of team blocking. A number of missed Thunderbirds serves allowed Manitoba to keep it close, but after a 25-21 set win, UBC wrapped up the match and completed their weekend sweep.
It is the first time UBC has swept Manitoba in Winnipeg since Nov. 9-10, 2007.
The first half of the season is now over for the T-Birds. After holiday break, they will resume action at home against Winnipeg on Jan. 11. First serve is at 8 p.m.
"It was just a really good way to end the first half and the guys are really excited to get going in January but they're going to enjoy some time off and finish exams," said Schick.
The Bisons men's volleyball team will close their first half schedule on Tuesday, Dec. 4 in the Duckworth Classic, facing off against cross-town rivals Winnipeg at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.
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