VANCOUVER – It was a closely contested Canada West men's volleyball affair as UBC fought to their first home win of the season. The Thunderbirds flipped the script on the Winnipeg Wesmen and earned a 3-1 win on Saturday at War Memorial Gymnasium to split the weekend series. Winnipeg won in four sets Friday night.
Mat Guidi recorded 17 kills for UBC, while "Swervin'"
Irvan Brar had 16, and a team-best nine blocks.
Byron Keturakis led the Thunderbirds in assists (46), digs (10) and service aces (4).
For Winnipeg, David Bommersbach had 17 kills, while Mikael Clegg had 38 assists. Logan Brennan had 10 digs. Nicholas Jacobson and Benoit Theriault shared the team lead with two blocks apiece.
In the opening set, a blistering
Byron Keturakis serve down the line was initially called out – but that was overruled to give the 'Birds a 21-18 advantage. His second straight ace then put UBC up by four points.
After a timeout call by head coach Larry McKay, the Wesmen rallied. Kills from Daniel Thiessen, Brendan Thielmann, and Bommersbach were part of a 6-1 run that moved Winnipeg back in front of UBC, by score of 24-23. Two Brar kills in response gave the T-Birds their own set point at 25-24. A UBC service error evened the score, before Brar knocked down another kill, and then put up a solo block to win the set for the hosts.
Winnipeg asserted themselves in the second. Taylor Howe and Jacobson combined on a block to win a point that gave the Wesmen a 13-7 lead.
A Keturakis block brought the 'Birds back to within three points and
Mat Guidi found his groove, carving up the Winnipeg back row. A Wesmen double-hit gave the T-Birds a set point, and they capitalized two points later on a Guidi kill – his sixth of the set – to take the tight second game 25-23.
In the third set, Thiessen sent the two teams into the technical timeout with a kill that put Winnipeg in front 16-9. UBC closed to 19-16 before the Wesmen clinched the set by taking six of the next seven points, thanks in part to a pair of kills each from Bommersbach and Benoit Theriault.
Brar got the 'Birds rolling to start the fourth with a crafty back row tip that fooled the Wesman defence. Guidi contributed a block and a kill to add to the Thunderbird lead, while the block party continued for
Joel Regehr and Brar as they combined for 15 total blocks on the night. Keturakis switched up his formidable serve with a successful knuckler to give UBC a match point that Brar converted on his 16th and final kill.
UBC head coach
Kerry MacDonald acknowledged Brar's strong leadership qualities as well as his impressive stats, but saw Keturakis as the man of the match.
"Last night he was pretty hard on himself and didn't think he played that well," he said. "I think he responded really well – it was like night and day. He was definitely the guy that stepped up and won us a couple big ones."
Brar agreed.
"Today everyone just clicked and we played as a unit. Byron came back and was huge for us. He was serving really well, putting the ball in a good spot for us to swing on…he was just a solid guy for us."
The Thunderbirds will travel to Kamloops next weekend to take on Thompson Rivers while Winnipeg heads to Calgary.
