The University of British Columbia Athletics

 VANCOUVER – After an extremely close battle through four sets, the No. 5 UBC Thunderbirds found another gear and pulled away in the fifth for a 3-2 win (25-23, 21-25, 23-25, 26-24, 15-7) on Saturday night at War Memorial Gym.
 
Middle blocker Alex Russell had four kills in the fifth set and a huge solo block on match point to seal up the win for the 'Birds. His effort in the fifth was especially important after his partner in the middle, Chris Howe, went down with an ankle injury early in the set.
 
The 'Birds were already without their top two setters and their top outside hitter due to injury, but they were picked up by great performances from some of the young guns on the roster, including Gabriel Aaron, who led the team with 10 digs and tied for the team lead with 15 kills on .387 hitting.
 
"He was stable. Even last night he was making them play the ball," UBC head coach Richard Schick said of Aaron. "Sometimes I'd like to see him be a bit more aggressive but with aggressiveness comes some risk too. For him to come in his first few CIS matches and do this is pretty outstanding, and it's important for us with guys going down injured."
 
Another key performer was rookie Mat Guidi, who made big contributions in both the fourth and fifth sets, finishing with seven kills on .333 hitting.
 
"Mat Guidi was a bit of an unsung hero going in at the end for us," said Schick. "He was pretty efficient towards the end of that fourth set and he just brings a pretty neat energy out there. It's about bringing it when it counts, and we all talk about it but Mat really did that and was a big spark plug for us serving, attacking and on defence."
 
UBC led by eight points midway through the first set before the Bisons made a late charge, eventually losing, but not before closing that lead all the way down to two. That seemed to energize the visitors and stun the home side, as the Bisons went on to win the next two sets, hitting over .300 both times while the UBC offence struggled.
 
"I think this group sometimes thinks it's going to be easy, but it's going to be far from easy every single time," Schick said. "Even though we were seven or eight points up in that first set we let them back into it in the end and that's something we don't want to do, so it was good to see our guys respond in the end."
 
Devren Drear led a three-pronged attack from the outside for the Bisons, racking up 21 kills and nine digs on the night. Adam DeJonckheere had 18 kills on .395 hitting, adding 11 digs, and Kevin Falconer had 17 kills.
 
In the middle, Kenny Rooney had 12 kills, two solo blocks and three block assists.
 
"Manitoba played aggressive and without a conscience," said Schick. "They came and played hard, and when a team does that and you don't match it, that's what happens. The tide turns quickly and it really put us out of sorts. We seemed shocked by the way they were playing, and weren't playing very well in the middle of that match but towards the end we made some smart plays and smart shots."
 
Ben Chow tied Aaron for the UBC lead with 15 kills. In the middle, Russell and Howe were both efficient offensive options for the 'Birds, combining for 17 kills on only 29 attacks.
 
The Bisons fall to 1-3 on the season, and will return to Manitoba to start a four-match home stand next weekend that will see a pair of ranked opponents come to town in Saskatchewan and Brandon.
 
UBC improves to 2-2 with the win, and they will also be at home next weekend looking to keep it going against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack. Those teams get together on Saturday, November 9 and Sunday, November 10 at 3 p.m.
 
-30-