VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds came from behind to top the Regina Cougars 3-1 (23-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-20) to extend their winning streak to six games and pull ahead of Brandon for third in Canada West.
 
First-year hitter Danny Aspenlieder was a force to be reckoned with, coming off the bench for an inspiring 9 kills on just 16 attempts and adding an assist, a dig, and a block.
 
"It was a great game…just so much fun. The guys were so supportive of me coming off the bench and the energy was unreal." 
 
UBC Head Coach Kerry MacDonald was impressed with the rookie's performance.

"He's a great kid…one of the one's who's put in all the effort and done all the extra work everywhere. You just want to see a kid like that succeed, so it's awesome."


 
With 51 kills the 'Birds outpaced the Cougars offensively, adding 9 service aces. Irvan Brar led UBC with 15 kills and 5 assists, while setter Byron Keturakis racked up 41 assists to go along with a team-high 9 digs – adding 5 aces and 5 kills.
 
Matthew Aubrey smacked 10 kills to lead the Cougars, Dalton Wolfe and Brennan Goski each earned 6 kills and 6 digs in the hard-fought loss.
 
Regina kept pace with the T-Birds in the first set and led 6-5, before Cam Fennema unloaded on a cross-court kill to bring the T-Birds within one. The teams traded blows throughout a tight opening game until UBC faced a set point.  Down 24-23, Brar's serve went wide and the Cougars took the first set 25-23.


 
UBC went on a 6-0 run to open the second set and rookie Nick Mickelberry checked in late in the game to earn his first kill – giving the 'Birds a chance to win it at 24-15. Regina's Matthew Aubrey missed his attack and the Thunderbirds drew even at a set apiece.
 
The third set was a back-and-forth battle, but at 17-17 Brar cranked a kill and Keturakis fired an ace to reclaim the edge 19-17. UBC saw that lead through to a 25-21 victory on an Aspenlieder kill.

BOOM ?? @danaspenlieder smashing it down! @ubcmvb take the 3rd set and lead 2-1 over @ReginaCougars. Fourth set coming up! #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/v5glyY4HKX

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) February 12, 2017

 
It was another strong start for the 'Birds in the fourth, up 5-1 early, but the Cougars clawed back to tie it at 10-10. At 12-12, Aspenlieder smacked one of his season-high 9 kills for yet another lead…but this time they wouldn't relinquish the advantage. Aspenlieder scored the final two points of the match to close out his best performance of the season.