VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds men's volleyball team won both its matches on Saturday to capture their own Thunderball tournament at War Memorial Gymnasium.
The team won its final round-robin match 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-21) over the Mt. Royal Cougars to advance to the gold-medal final.
Ben Chow led UBC with 10 kills against the Cougars. Rookies
Mat Guidi and
Will Dichuk both had seven kills. Dichuk also led the 'Birds with 10 digs.
UBC did an excellent job of keeping Mt. Royal from building any momentum in the match as the Cougars never won more than three points in a row.
In the championship match, UBC beat the Saskatchewan Huskies (28-26, 23-25, 25-15, 25-20).
Chow was once again the statistical leader with 18 kills and 11 digs. Dichuk had 12 kills and eight digs while
Milan Nikic and
Ian Perry both had 10 digs.
The first set was tied on 16 different occasions and it wasn't decided until a combination block by Chow and
Alex Russell ended the first set at 28-26.
After the dropping the second, the Thunderbirds rebounded, easily capturing the set after opening on an 11-4 run.
The fourth set featured a match-ending run by UBC. Trailing 16-15, the Thunderbirds finished off the Huskies by winning 10 of the next 14 points.
The team finishes the pre-season with a record of 8-2, not including Thursday's win over a Canada West alumni squad. UBC will open the 2013-14 Canada West regular season next weekend with a home-and-home series against Trinity Western, beginning Oct. 25 in Langley. The two teams will faceoff at War Memorial Gym the next night.
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