VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds (1-7) bumped their slump with a convincing 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25-15) victory over the Manitoba Bisons (3-3) to come away with a split at War Memorial Gym. UBC totalled 43 kills with a 0.346 hitting percentage over three sets, and continued their strong serving prowess with 10 aces.
 
"We made a few tactical changes," said UBC Head Coach Mike Hawkins following his first win with the T-Birds. "We put a few guys in different positions, and I think they executed very well."
 
Rookie Winnipeg native Gerard Murray led the 'Birds with 5 blocks, adding 5 kills and 2 aces, while second-year Victoria, B.C. product Nick Mickelberry shone in his starting role and finished with a team-high 12 kills - plus 5 digs and 2 blocks.
 
"We wanted Nick to be the loaded gun," said Hawkins. "We switched him in different positions to find certain matchups and we know that's his strength. He's going to be a very offensive player and even when he made errors...he knew when to be aggressive."

?? MVB | @ubctbirds were a well-oiled machine that hit hard and blocked well tonight! The boys won 3 consecutive 25-15 sets to get their weekend split vs. @umbisons. #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/3IT5JtCGxO

— UBC Thunderbirds / @UBCTBirds (@ubctbirds) November 11, 2018

 
Mickelberry tied it early for the 'Birds at 7-7 in the first, and three Ben Hooker aces made it 13-9. With a 16-13 lead at the technical timeout, Murray closed out the set with a bang on a solo block to take it 25-15.
 
"I thought Gerard came in and did a really good job playing against his hometown team," said Hawkins. "He did well to slow them down in the middle."
 
Murray and Mickelberry combined for a big block at 10-6 UBC in the second set and the home squad maintained their lead throughout the second. Coltyn Liu's fifth kill gave the 'Birds a set point, and Jordan Deshane closed it out at 25-15.


 
A Lui attack off the block gave the T-Birds a match point at 24-13, and the home team capped off their first home court win in energetic fashion, 25-13. Liu put up 9 kills with 6 digs, Michael Dowhaniuk tallied 8 kills with 3 blocks and libero Tyson Smith was impressive on the defensive end - finishing with 10 digs in the victory.
 
"It's nice to have this one going into our bye week," admitted Hawkins. "I think it's going to make next week feel a lot better. Then we have Sask coming in a couple weeks and they've been playing well. They're a feisty team and fairly veteran so we know it's going to be just as big a scrap as this weekend was."
 
UBC will be back in action on November 23rd to host the University of Saskatchewan Huskies for a pair of matches at War Memorial Gym.