VANCOUVER - The UBC men's volleyball team saw their four-game winning streak interrupted Friday evening in War Memorial Gymnasium as the No. 6-ranked University of Saskatchewan Huskies triumphed in straight sets (25-22, 25-23, 25-17) to extend their own winning streak to six.
BOX SCORE
With the loss, No. 4 UBC falls to 13-6 in conference play, while Saskatchewan improves to 10-9.
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Quentin Schmidt and
Ben Chow, who contributed 13 and 10 kills apiece, totalled two-thirds of UBC's overall kills.
Milan Nikic contributed 31 assists and two aces for the Thunderbirds.
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The Huskies were led by Paul Thomson, Bryan Fraser, and Jordan Nowakowski, who had 12, eight and seven kills, respectively; setter Emory Wells tallied a game-high 35 assists.
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UBC head coach
Richard Schick felt his team did not show up ready to play this evening.
"I think, definitely, we fell apart at first contact – serving and serve-receive," he said. "This is, by far, the worst match we've had in regard to serve-receive. Credit to Saskatchewan, as they served aggressively and they played well. They played well when they had to, which was after 20 points. We had opportunity after opportunity to turn some balls around and win those first two sets; but, we didn't. When you don't, teams are going to make you pay. You either have it or you don't. It's a choice. Today, I don't know what was different with our preparation; but it definitely wasn't there. Saskatchewan played well and we didn't. We didn't come ready to play."
The visitors used an early 7-2 to go ahead 11-6, forcing UBC to take a timeout. But
Alex Russell's first kill of the match also gave the 'Birds their first lead at 20-19. Saskatchewan replied by winning six of the next eight points to clinch the set, which was capped off by a kill from Thomson.
Chow and Schmidt contributed five kills apiece early on and Nikic served up two aces.
The Thunderbirds responded well in the second, jumping out to an early advantage and holding it for most of the set. Schmidt knocked down a kill to put UBC up 20-16 but once again, Saskatchewan finished strong, going on a 9-3 run to conclude the set. Nowakowski started the run with a kill and Fraser finished it off with one of his own.
The Huskies grabbed the lead in the beginning of the third set, moving ahead 13-6. The Thunderbirds battled back to win the next five points, thanks to kills from Chow, Nikic and
Noah Derksen. They trailed 15-13 when the team in green went on its third big, set-ending run of the night, this time scoring 10 of the last 14 points. Thomson provided the kills that started and finished the streak.
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Between the second and third sets, UBC honoured third-year co-captain Nikic with the annual Dale Ohman Volleyball Scholarship, created in honour of the former UBC player and head coach for his substantial mark on the sport at this school and throughout the province. Nikic currently leads the CIS in aces and is the starting setter on the Canadian Junior National Team.
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Saturday evening, the same teams will complete the weekend double-header with the first serve at 7 p.m. at War Memorial Gymnasium.
