VANCOUVER – The sixth-ranked UBC Thunderbirds improved to 5-4 on the season, taking down the No. 10 Mount Royal Cougars in four sets (26-24, 25-20, 14-25, 25-21) in Canada West men's volleyball action on Friday at Kenyon Court in Calgary.
 
Mat Guidi (Coquitlam, B.C.) recorded 13 kills for the Thunderbirds while Andrew McWilliam and Tyler Schmidt led the Cougars with 14 kills each in a losing effort.
 
UBC's Trenton Leisen (Edmonton) had 12 digs.
 
Byron Keturakis (Surrey, B.C.) made a YouTube worthy save early in the first set for the Thunderbirds. Off a deflection, the ball appeared to be headed into the stands when the setter ran into the first row to make a pass to a teammate. Unfortunately for Keturakis, this particular point didn't go the Thunderbirds way as a teammates kill attempt sailed wide, giving the Cougars an early point.  
 
The Thunderbirds rallied behind Keturakis' effort and jumped out to a 12-7 first set lead. While the Thunderbirds made big time blocks on a few Andrew McWilliam spike attempts, the Cougars helped the Thunderbirds cause with some shaky serving early.  
 
The Cougars managed to work their way back into the game, getting the better of the Thunderbirds on a few long tiring rallies, equalizing the game at 24. 
 
After a McWilliam tip attempt found the net, Keturakis continued his strong first-set effort. With an awe-inspiring vertical leap, the sophomore denied a Cougars' spike attempt, as his team took the first set 26-24. 
 
The talents of the Cougars' and the Thunderbirds' Guidi were on display in a hard-hitting second set. While neither team was able to sustain a lead for most of the set, two Guidi kills in a row gave the Thunderbirds a 23-20 advantage forcing a Mt. Royal timeout. 
 
The Thunderbirds came out of the timeout strong, winning another two points to earn a 25-20 set win. 
 
The Cougars started the third set hot. Lucas King and McWilliam torched the Thunderbirds early and often with ferocious kills, flying out to an 18-8 lead. 
 
Looking like a different team entirely, the Cougars took the third set 25-14, pulling within one game of the Thunderbirds. 
 
But the night belonged to the Thunderbirds. Despite falling behind 7-1 to start the fourth set, UBC came back to take a 16-15 lead into the technical timeout.
 
An ace by middle Joel Regehr (Courtenay, B.C.) made it 22-18 for the visitors. After the Cougars got two points back, Keturakis got a kill, then an ace before earning the assist on Alex Russell's (Surrey, B.C) kill that closed out the match.
 
The two teams will meet again tomorrow at 4 p.m. PT at MRU's Kenyon Court.
 
- with files from MRU Sports Information