VANCOUVER – The No. 6-ranked UBC Thunderbirds men's volleyball team dropped a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to the Thompson Rivers WolfPack on Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Gym. 
 
The final set scores in the contest were 20-25, 25-18, 27-25, 23-25, 20-18.
 
Brad Gunter had a phenomenal day on the attack, earning 33 kills on 54 swings. He also had a game-high 15 digs, as did Cole Keddie. Graham Stoliker had 56 assists for TRU.
 
Mat Guidi (Coquitlam, B.C.) led UBC with 17 kills, followed closely by Irvan Brar (Surrey, B.C.), who had 16 and two aces. Jacob Smith (Surrey, B.C.) recorded 12 digs, while Milan Nikic (Calgary) and Byron Keturakis (Surrey, B.C.) had 25 kills each.
 



Like yesterday's matchup, neither side could create any separation during the early portion of the first set, with the largest margin of difference being 9-6 for UBC early.
 
The two sides entered the technical timeout with the 'Birds holding the slimmest of leads, at 16-15.
 
Brar picked up back-to-back points just minutes later, one on a terrific block, and one on a violent kill. The Brar double play put the 'Birds up 20-17,
 
The 'Birds closed strong, picking up five of the set's final eight points to claim the set 25-20.
 
Errors proved to be the story for Thompson Rivers in the opening frame, with nine on the attack, and five from service. The 'Birds, on the other hand, only collected eight total errors between the two categories.
 
Thompson Rivers came out strong in the second frame, eventually opening up an 11-6 lead following a 4-0 run, thanks in part to kills from Gunter and Sam Taylor Parks.
 
A huge block from Alex Russell (Surrey, B.C.) seemed to stop the bleeding for the hosts, as the 'Birds turned around and ripped off a 5-3 run to close the gap to 14-11.
 
A couple of bullet aces from Gunter brought the two sides to the technical timeout, with the WolfPack ahead 16-11.
 
Thompson Rivers did well to fend off a late comeback attempt by UBC, eventually going on a 3-0 run to close out the set with the 25-20 win.
 
Down 12-9 and on the ropes after Thompson Rivers had gone on a 7-2 run, UBC head coach Richard Schick called a timeout. The move seemed to settle the 'Birds and re-focus them, as the home side then orchestrated a 4-1 run over their own, equalizing at 13-13.
 
The T-Birds won the race to the technical timeout in the third frame, holding a 16-15 advantage at the interlude.
 
Coming out of the timeout, a couple of wicked blocks, one from Keturakis and one from Jarrid Ireland (Winnipeg), gave UBC an 18-15 lead.
 
The two sides dueled in the late stages of the stanza, with a beautiful drop shot from Russell setting UBC at set point, with a 24-23 lead, before a kill from Gunter tied it up.
 
The WolfPack took the set just four points later, with a pair of solid Kills from Gunter and Grundmann giving them the two-point lead needed.
 
The 'Birds came out undeterred in the fourth set, storming out a 10-6 lead right off the bat. A couple of WolfPack errors and a couple of spectacular kills from Nikic and Guidi helped the T-Birds maintain that four-point margin into the timeout, up 16-12.
 
Some terrific defensive effort helped the 'Birds stretch their lead to 19-14, forcing Thompson Rivers to call a timeout.
 
The WolfPack responded in earnest, as a double block from Gunter and Jordan Foot capped a run that saw the visitors capture eight of the next 11 points, equalizing at 22-22.
 
The T-Birds showed some moxie of their own, picking up four of the next five points to take the set 25-23. A mishit from Gunter was the decider, as the gifted hitter went straight into the net for UBC's final point of the set.
 
The final set saw the two sides trade shots – neither side seemed able to get ahead by more than a single point in the early stages.
 
The 'Birds finally created some separation at 10-8, following a pair of Brar kills. The lead didn't last long, as Gunter reeled off a pair of his own to knot up the match-deciding set at 10-10.
 
The WolfPack took the lead back soon after, going up 12-11 on an ace from Taylor Parks. Unwilling to relent, the 'Birds got back out ahead 13-12 off a service error from Taylor Parks, and a wicked kill from Guidi.
 
Gunter's kill put Thompson Rivers up 15-14 with a match point on the line, but a pair of back-to-back Guidi kills brought UBC level, and set them up with a match point of their own.
 
The two sides kept fighting, with neither giving an inch. The T-Birds held an 18-17 lead but a Gunter kill tied the match. Then he and Taylor Parks combined on a block to stifle a UBC attack before he finished the match with a kill that made the score 20-18.
 
The result keeps TRU's playoff hopes alive as the WolfPack sit in eighth place in the Canada West standings with a record of 10-12. The T-Birds, at 12-8, remain in the fifth. The top seven teams at the end of the season will earn a playoff berth.
 
Next weekend, the WolfPack will host Trinity Western, the team directly above them in the standings.
 
UBC will host its final home regular season games of the 2015-16 campaign next weekend against the Saskatchewan Huskies.