VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds men's volleyball team fell in four sets to the host Pepperdine University Waves today in the second outing of its three-match California tour.
BOX SCORE
After dropping in straight sets on Sunday, NCAA No. 6 Pepperdine won the rematch at Firestone Fieldhouse in Malibu, Calif. by scores of 25-20, 25-18, 23-25 and 29-27.
"They served the ball tougher, they blocked well and took away a lot of the things we did well the other day," said UBC head coach
Richard Schick about Pepperdine. "We  had our opportunities but we didn't grasp them but we'll look forward to starting off the new year against a tough Long Beach State team."
Ben Chow led UBC with 16 kills, 13 digs and two service aces.
Noah Derksen recorded 13 kills while
Ian Perry had eight digs.
Down by a point midway through the fourth set (12-11), UBC went on a 6-1 run, getting kills from
Mat Guidi, Derksen and Chow, to go ahead 17-13. Pepperdine replied by tying the set at 20-20, one of 15 ties in the fourth set. From that point on, when one team went ahead, the other would even the score on the next point. This pattern played out until a Derksen kill made it 27-27. Chow committed an error on his serve and on the ensuing play, Pepperdine clinched the victory on its fourth match point of the day.
The Thunderbirds forced a fourth set after winning a rollercoaster third. Chow knocked down three kills in a 6-2 run that put UBC ahead 15-9. The team had a seven-point advantage (19-12) when Pepperdine rolled off a huge 11-4 spurt to tie the set late at 23-23. But the Thunderbirds recovered just in time as Chow and
Parker Jobin combined on a block to give UBC set point at 24-23. With
Milan Nikic serving on the next play, Chow converted on an attack to finish off a 25-23 win.
After splitting the first 14 points of the second set with the home team, the T-Birds got consecutive kills from Schmidt and Chow to go ahead 9-7 but the Waves went on a 7-1 run to take the lead for good. The visitors never got closer than within three points the rest of the way.
UBC opened the match by claiming the first two points but Pepperdine rallied to win the next three and never trailed again in the first set. The T-Birds got to even terms on four different occasions after the Waves took their first lead but couldn't win the next point. A kill by Schmidt got UBC to within one at 15-14 but the home team won five of the next seven points to build an unassailable 20-16 lead.
UBC will have New Year's Day off before returning to the court for the final game of its California trip on Jan. 2 at Long Beach State University against the 49ers, the No. 4 team in the NCAA. The first serve is scheduled for 5 p.m.
