VANCOUVER - The UBC thunderbirds had to settle for a split in their key series with the Brandon Bobcats, winning Friday's match but losing 3-0 on Saturday (25-19, 32-30, 25-23) at War Memorial Gym.
In a possible preview of a first-round playoff match up, the T-Birds and Bobcats played each other very close for the second night in a row. The Bobcats' nail-biting second set win was the turning point, as they overcame an early deficit to earn the win in an emotionally and physically draining frame.
The 'Birds had a shot at game point up 24-23, but some key blocks and big kills from Paul Robidoux kept the Bobcats afloat, and middle blocker Jonathan Sloane capped off the set with one of his nine kills on the night.
"I don't know how else to say it besides having the opportunities and just not coming through," said UBC head coach
Richard Schick. "It was a very tight match again and a couple sets could have gone either way, but what it comes down to is last night we made plays after 20 points, and tonight we didn't."
Sloane gave the T-Birds fits all weekend, racking up a total of 21 kills on 32 attacks. He also added three aces from the service line on Saturday.
The third set was another tight one from start to finish, but again it was the Bobcats stepping their game up in crunch time and coming up with the big plays to finish sets. After two straight UBC points tied it at 23, freshman hitter Sam Tuivai ended the night with a kill and then a brilliant ace on match point that seemed to dive straight into the ground once it crossed the net.
Tuivai tied for the match-high with 16 kills and added 10 digs.
UBC's
Robert Bennett also had 16 kills to put an exclamation mark on potentially his last home match in a UBC uniform. He was recognized for his contributions to the program along with fellow fifth-years
Yari Kozel,
Cary Brett,
Chris Klassen,
Tanner Kozak, and inactive players
Joe Cordonier and
Demijan Savija, as part of UBC's seniors' night.
"Robert had to handle a lot of slop out there today because it was probably our worst passing game of the year and we didn't really give our setters a good opportunity to run an offence, so it was definitely a lot to ask but he handled himself well tonight," said Schick.
Kozel also had a strong match, although in limited action, as he injured his ankle in Friday's game. He still managed to rack up five kills on just nine swings to go with four blocks, most of those numbers coming in the second set.
Brett also had five efficient kills out of the middle and led all players with eight blocks.
Klassen split time at setter with
Milan Nikic, earning 16 assists, and Kozak picked up a kill on his only attack of the night.
Both teams now sit at 10-8 on the year, There's still one week to go though, leaving plenty of room for the super-tight four-through-six seeds to change. Both teams face a tough test to finish the regular season, as Brandon takes on third place Alberta, while the T-Birds are on the road to play No. 1 Trinity Western.
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