FREDERICTON, N.B. – The New Brunswick Varsity Reds men's volleyball team took the first of a two-game series against the UBC Thunderbirds Wednesday at the Richard J Currie Centre, winning in four sets.

UNB came out of the off-season after taking second in the AUS last year, while Wednesday's contest was the second in the pre-season for UBC, which defeated Mount Royal last weekend 3-1. The Thunderbirds finished fifth in the Canada West last year.

Starting off their first set of the season, UNB were slow out of the gate. UBC tested their defence early, going ahead 9-3 with some good service runs and a few attacks at the net that seemed to have UNB's defence on its heels.

But as they shook off the rust, UNB began to close the gap evening up the score 15-15 halfway through the set in front of the home crowd. From there on it was a battle back and forth, jockeying for a decisive lead.

After stringing together a few small service runs, and some key blocks from the frontcourt, UNB took the set 25-22, despite trailing by as much as six early on. UBC was only able to convert six successful kills on the Varsity Reds in the set.

Both teams came out strong in the second set; back and forth they went maintaining a tie for the majority of the set. Both teams also flashed some promising defensive play, using an effective three-man block respectively. The stellar defence at the net and some high velocity kills made for an entertaining set for those in the stands.

All tied and into extra points, it was UBC that made a late push. Depending highly on the offensive power of Irvan Brar (Surrey, B.C.) to push them to a second set win over the

Varsity Reds 27-25. The Thunderbirds doubled their kill total to 12, including four from Brar, while UNB surrendered nine errors.

Much like the previous set, no team gave an inch in the early points of the third. Though after the technical timeout, UNB began to pour it on, going on a 5-1 run, and never looked back. Setter Mathieu Losie played a key role, keeping serve during the run, and helped out with two plays at the net, catching UBC off guard. UNB would go on to win their second set of the match 25-14.

With the match on the line, UBC came out and stayed right with the Varsity Reds throughout the fifth. No team could break a three-point lead before it was tied again. UNB saved a set point at 24-23 and faced another at 25-24 before rattling off the final three points of the set to win the match.

Brar had 10 kills and nine digs to lead UBC in both categories, while setter Milan Nikic (Calgary) had 27 assists.

The same two teams will have a rematch on Thursday at the Richard J Currie Centre in Fredericton, N.B.