VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds men's volleyball team opened its California tour with a 3-0 (25-22, 25-21 and 25-16) victory over the Pepperdine University Waves, the sixth-ranked team in the NCAA, on Sunday afternoon in Malibu, Calif.
BOX SCORE
Outside hitters
Ben Chow and
Quentin Schmidt knocked down 12 kills each for UBC, while teammate
Mac McNicol chipped in with 10.
Ian Perry had 16 digs to lead all players while
Alex Russell had a solo block and seven assists.
"We passed the ball extremely well and when we do that, we can do a lot of different things offensively and I think that showed with three guys getting to double digits in kills," remarked UBC head coach
Richard Schick.
Three kills each from Schmidt and McNicol early in the first set staked UBC out to a 13-7 advantage, a match-opening run that was capped off by a kill from
Parker Jobin. After calling a timeout, Pepperdine worked its way back into the match, tying the set at 21-21. But the T-Birds rallied to win four of the next five points, with two kills from Chow, one from McNicol and a combination block from Russell and Schmidt, to claim the first set.
The second set was again closely contested, with the two squads splitting the first 18 points. A 6-3 run gave UBC, the third-ranked team in the CIS men's volleyball rankings, a slight lead but the host Waves hung tough, never allowing the 'Birds more than two points in a row. Still, UBC continued to build, getting kills from McNicol (two), Jobin and Russell to go ahead 22-18. The two teams traded points until the conclusion of the set.
The Thunderbirds clinched a nine-point win in the third to record the match victory. With UBC leading 16-14, Schmidt knocked down a kill to put his team ahead by three points. He then went back to serve and the T-Birds proceeded to win the next five points to make it 22-14. Chow recorded the final two kills to finish the match.
UBC hit an impressive .418 as a team and committed just eight errors on the attack. The 'Birds also outblocked the Waves 13-4.5.
Josh Taylor had 16 kills for Pepperdine.
"We showed a lot of versatility today, allowing guys to play in different positions," said Schick. "It was good to see such consistency on the outside.
Parker Jobin played well in the middle, especially with blocking. He really stepped up in that aspect of the game. To stat that high against Pepperdine, a team that knows the game so well and plays so smartly, was good to see."
The two teams will face off again on Dec. 31 at 1 p.m. at Pepperdine's Firestone Fieldhouse.
