VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds men's volleyball team fell 3-1 to the visiting Thompson Rivers WolfPack on Friday evening at War Memorial Gym, dropping three straight sets after a marathon win in the first frame.
 
At the final whistle, the set scores read 33-31, 15-25, 18-25, 23-25.
 
Canada West-leading outside hitter Brad Gunter paced the WolfPack with 18 kills and seven aces, followed closely in kills by teammate Randy Grundmann, who notched 17. Setter Graham Stoliker was also terrific for Thompson Rivers, earning 53 assists on the evening.
 
"We knew, coming in, that Thompson Rivers would play aggressive, as they play that way every time out," said UBC head coach Richard Schick after the match. "They don't ever hold back, and sometimes it works out for them, and sometimes it doesn't. Tonight, obviously, it did - I thought that the more aggressive they got, the more success they had, and the tighter we got, which is not what we lie to see. However, it happened, and they rolled from there." 

Irvan Brar (Surrey, B.C.) was once again at the forefront of the Thunderbirds attack, blasting 13 kills at the WolfPack. Brar also had a game-high 13 digs.
 
The 'Birds and WolfPack were in lockstep the entire opening set, as neither side could open up more than a three-point lead at any point in the frame.  That held true well into the tiebreaker portion of the set, as UBC and Thompson Rivers kept sawing off back and forth.
 
The 'Birds earned a set-point position six times in the opening frame, and Thompson Rivers kept fighting back, with Grundmann doing his fair share of the attacking in the late going, picking up three kills. The 'Birds eventually claimed the set win after Brar picked up his fourth kill of the stanza on the heels of a service error from the WolfPack's Kyhle Behiels.
 
The 'Birds got into a hole early in the second set, finding themselves down 8-3 in the early going, as Thompson Rivers came out with some impressive jump.  Even a timeout from head coach Richard Schick couldn't settle the 'Birds, as Thompson Rivers, buoyed by a pair of nasty-looking aces from Gunter and a couple of untimely UBC errors, stretched their advantage to 16-8. Credit to the 'Birds, they rebounded well in the final portion of the stanza, going shot-for-shot with the visitors, but at they couldn't manage to chip away at the WolfPack's considerable lead, eventually dropping the set by a 25-15 margin.
 
The third set saw the 'Birds fall into a 16-11 hole by the technical timeout, at which point, something seemed to click for the home side.
 
Coming out of the brief interlude, the 'Birds reeled off six of the next nine points, including a monstrous kill from middle Alex Russell (Surrey, B.C.), to close the gap to two points at 18-16.
 
However, that's when the wheels fell off for the T-Birds, as Thompson Rivers bullied their way to seven of the next nine points, claiming the 25-18 set win on a smash from Gunter.
 
The 'Birds seemed to come out on a mission in the fourth frame, as Brar dropped the hammer on three early kills and, coupled with two kills from fifth-year setter Milan Nikic (Calgary) and an ace from Joel Regehr (Courtenay, B.C.), and his squad jumped out to an 8-3 lead.
 
Thompson Rivers, though, refused to back down, clawing their way back to a one-point deficit at 9-8.  Then, the T-Birds once again flashed the talent that has them ranked sixth in the country, as they ripped off a 7-1 run of their own, including a bullet of a kill from Regehr on a terrific setup from Byron Keturakis (Surrey, B.C.).
 
Down 18-12, the WolfPack notched six of the next seven points, two of which were kills off of Gunter's heavy hands, to tighten the gap once more.
 
Regehr made his presence yet again a few points later, as his perfectly timed block put the 'Birds up 23-20.
 
With it looking like the 'Birds could extend the match to five sets, Gunter took over. The fifth-year standout notched three kills in the match's final moments, as his WolfPack ripped off five straight points to close out the contest.

Never one to mince words, Schick was clear that the adjustments that need to be made aren't tactical, as much as they are execution-based. Even more than that, how the T-Birds respond to tonight's loss could speak loudly of their mental fortitude.

"For tomorrow, that's going to be another test in regards to what kind of character some of these guys are going to show. We have to have better performances on the offensive side of things, the serve-receive side of things, the service side, and the setting side. I think all can be better, and it's all about how we respond to the challenges put in front of us."
 
The 'Birds will get a shot at redemption tomorrow night, as they're set to take on Thompson Rivers once more, with the opening whistle set to go at 3:00 p.m. (PT) at War Memorial Gym.