BRANDON – The UBC Thunderbirds had their seven set win streak snapped Saturday afternoon in Brandon with the Bobcats rallying off three straight set wins, handing the 'Birds a 3-1 loss (16-25, 26-24, 25-20, 25-15) at the Healthy Living Centre.

The 'Birds looked to have picked up right where they left off from Friday night's straight sets victory with a 25-16 opening set win, but the Bobcats bounced right back as UBC settles for the weekend split. UBC drops to 2-4 on the season while Brandon picks up their first victory, now at 1-3.

"It was a frustrating night," said UBC head coach Doug Reimer. "A large part of that was Brandon's play, especially from the service line. We also didn't adjust well to their improvements offensively."



Kiera Van Ryk served UBC to 11 straight points to close out the first set after the two teams were tied early. That would be the biggest lead of the night as the two teams traded blows from then on, with the Bobcats prevailing in the dying points of the remaining three sets.

After setting the Canada West single-season record for aces last year, sophomore Michelle Egger found her groove late in the game and sealed the deal by putting up three aces in the Bobcats' match-ending 6-1 run.

"With hindsight, we needed to play with more urgency in the second and third sets," added Reimer. "Had we done so, maybe we would have limited their chances to get rolling."



Egger finished with 10 kills and seven digs while fifth-year outside Nikala Majewski had match-highs in both kills (16) and digs (15) to go with two blocks.

Van Ryk led the T-Birds for the second straight night with 13 kills and 11 digs, while Olivia Furlan added 33 assists and 11 digs of her own.

After two straight weekends on the road, the T-Birds are back at War Memorial Gym next Friday and Saturday to host the 2-2 Manitoba Bisons.