VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds outlasted the Manitoba Bisons 3-2 in a five-set marathon win (17-25, 25-11, 25-17, 23-25, 15-13) at the War Memorial Gym on Saturday night as the hosts completed the sweep of the two-game weekend series. The 'Birds improving to 12-2 while remaining a perfect 8-0 on home court while the Bisons' record dropped to 5-9.

The fifth set was very entertaining and saw T-Birds second-year middle Gabrielle Attieh step up and make her presence felt. With the 'Birds trailing 9-8 it was Attieh's emphatic kill that made it 9-9 to conclude a very athletic rally from both sides. Fast forward to the final moments at 13-13 and it was Attieh stepping up once again with back-to-back big plays. First, she won a joust at the net to put UBC ahead 14-13, followed by the match-clinching block, with help from Alessandra Gentile, to give the Thunderbirds a 15-13 fifth-set victory.


 
Attieh finished with eight kills and four block assists, with the last securing the 'Birds victory.
 
It feels pretty good, I have to congratulate my fellow teammates that came in and gave us that overpass to get the block, that was amazing and Alli (Alessandra Gentile) setting up that last block on the outside so I could close was perfect."
 
Attieh also commented on her squad's battle level after dropping the opening set to Manitoba.
 
"We weren't necessarily happy with our consistency throughout the game but I liked our resiliency in the moments when we were down, that fifth set especially was a little shaky at the beginning going down 3-0. I'm proud that we dug it out got a little grittier, we didn't get down on ourselves and pulled out the win in the end."

?? VBALLW | A nail biting 5th set ends with a T-Birds victory of 15-13. @ubcwvb1 now boasts an undefeated home streak of eight straight wins!  #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/6hHAH6NDzz

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) January 7, 2018

The Bisons were sharp in the opening set jumping out to leads of 13-9, and 20-11, forcing Thunderbirds head coach Doug Reimer to call separate timeouts at both score lines. The visitors would continue to execute however in extending their lead to 24-16 on Tori Studler's powerful kill. The Bisons would secure the 25-17 first-set victory on the strength of Kearly Abbott contributing four kills, and Allison Alcock and Studler each recording three. Meanwhile, leading the way for the T-Birds were Kiera Van Ryk and Ciara Hanly, who had three kills each.
 
The 'Birds were much sharper in the second set reversing the script from the opening set in accumulating leads of 5-2 and 13-6 causing longtime Bisons head coach Ken Bentley to call timeouts at each setback. The T-Birds would continue to dominate with Van Ryk's fifth kill of the night extending the lead to 21-9 before teammate Victoria Behie got into the action with her first kill, determining set point and a 25-11 second set victory to even things at 1-1.
 
The T-Birds would carry their momentum forward to the third set in jumping out to an 8-4 lead forcing another Bisons timeout. Manitoba's Josie Abbott would respond with her lone block assist of the night that would see the Bisons trail 21-14. The 'Birds would remain undeterred, however, and for a second straight set it would be Behie with the final dagger, her third kill on the evening securing the 25-17 third set victory.
 
The fourth set would prove to be an entertaining tug-of-war as UBC jumped out to a 7-3 lead only to see the Bisons claw back and take a 10-8 lead on the strength of Sydney Booker's three straight service aces. It would continue to be back-and-forth leading to a Jocelyn Koswin ace that gave Manitoba a 23-19 advantage and eventually a 25-23 fourth set win to force a fifth and deciding set.


 
First-year left side Van Ryk led the T-Birds with 16 kills and 17 digs while second-year setter Olivia Furlan finished with 13 kills and 21 digs. 
 
On the other side, it was a family duo leading the way as first-year right side Kearley Abbott lead the way with 15 kills and 14 digs, followed by second-year left side Josie Abbott who chipped in with six kills and 15 digs. Alcock was a force for Manitoba at the net, earning eight block assists. The team had 26 in all, earning 13 points.
 
Next week, the T-Birds hit the road to meet the Winnipeg Wesmen at the Duckworth Centre while the Bisons get set to host the Trinity Western Spartans.