HAMILTON – It will be an all-British Columbia battle as the UBC Thunderbirds will meet the No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans, after advancing to the gold medal match with a 3-1 victory (25-17, 25-18, 22-25, 25-20) over the No. 2 Alberta Golden Bears in the 2018 U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship semifinal on Saturday evening.
The No. 3 Thunderbirds will take on Canada West rival and two-time defending national champion Spartans in the gold medal match set for Sunday at 1 p.m. PT / 4 p.m. ET at McMaster University. UBC will be looking for their fourth U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship after claiming their last in 1983, while last appearing in a gold-medal final in 1984.
For a second straight night, the T-Birds set the tone from the service line, amassing 17 aces en route to paying back the Golden Bears, who swept them just two weeks ago in the Canada West semifinal to begin the month of March.
Fourth-year setter
Byron Keturakis was named UBC's Player of the Match after a standout performance that saw him deliver a game-high seven aces and a match-high 33 assists to go along with four kills and five digs. Team captain
Irvan Brar stepped up with three aces, 10 kills and seven digs while
Joel Regehr also chipped in with three aces and three kills.
Jordan Deshane added two aces and five kills while
Fynn McCarthy helped out with eight kills and one ace.
Keith West finished with a team-high 11 kills and added four digs.
The Thunderbirds' impact from the service line was on display early with five aces in the first set including two from Keturakis and another from Brar in jumping out to leads of 6-1 and 12-3 causing Alberta to call timeouts in both instances. The early break gave the Bears a brief spark as they clawed back to pull within four at 13-9 which led the 'Birds to their first timeout of the match. UBC would respond with kills from West, Regehr and Brar for a 16-10 advantage at the technical break and the 'Birds wouldn't look back the rest of the way en route to a comfortable 25-17 opening set victory. Keturakis would finish with four aces while the T-Birds hitting percentage sat at .471 compared to .381 for Alberta.
The second set started out neck-and-neck with the teams tied 5-5 early but momentum would swiftly change in the 'Birds' favour thanks to a Deshane ace and an emphatic double block from Rehehr and West to make in 7-5 and force an Alberta timeout. Keturakis and Brar would add two more aces each to their total in helping stretch the T-Birds lead to 16-11 at the technical timeout before cruising to a 25-18 second set victory and a 2-0 lead.
The third set was back-and-forth affair that saw UBC call a timeout when trailing 14-12, the 'Birds would find a brief spark with one of McCarthy's five kills in the set, one of three straight points tying it at 16-16 and causing a Bears timeout. The T-Birds would hold a lead of 22-21 thanks to one of Brar's four kills in the set but that's where their scoring stopped as the Bears would come from behind to claim the final four points and 25-22 victory in the third frame.
The fourth frame saw the 'Birds jump out to leads of 5-1 and 8-3 with help from a couple more aces from Keturakis and Deshane but the Bears battled back once again to tie it at 11-11 and 15-15. That's when one of the key overall turning points took place, as the T-Birds bumped the ball high in the air and as it drifted very close to the net, Keturakis demonstrably took up position as if he was going to set it while the Alberta team took notice, only to watch the ball fall freely to the floor on their side by the narrowest of margins. UBC took a 16-15 lead at that point while their confidence and moxie only seemed to grow stronger the rest of the way in going on a 10-5 run. Helping matters was fifth-year right side
Mat Guidi stepping up when it mattered most for a second straight night to deliver three key kills and an ace to secure the Birds the 25-20 set victory, a 3-1 match win and a spot in the U SPORTS national championship final.
"I was really pleased with our team's performance right from the start, we just went out there and balled it, thought it was awesome how well we played," said Keturakis who also touched on the squad's domination from the service line. "It's not just a tonight thing, we have the freedom to go hit a good serve and be aggressive without any penalties if we mess up."
UBC head coach
Kerry MacDonald was very happy with his team's execution.
"I think sets one and two were ones that from the service line that were the standouts and a separator for us," said MacDonald. "In set three, I thought Alberta did a great job from the service line and put us in trouble, they attacked well all night and when they're in system that's one of the best offences in the country and tough to stop. The fourth set was a see-saw battle and we managed to grind it out late in that set and had some great subs come in and do some phenomenal things for us to get through."
Finally, MacDonald sized up the familiar Spartans who'll they'll meet in Sunday's final.
"I know them well, I've watched them a lot and have coached with their head coach (Ben Josephson) so we will be prepared," added MacDonald. "I think we know what to expect and it will be a battle, they're a great team and I'm just really happy that we get an opportunity to play a team of that calibre for a gold medal."
The T-Birds and Spartans last met in mid-February where they split a home and home series, each winning on the others floor, the 'Birds winning 3-1 in Langley while the Spartans took the rematch 3-2, the next night at UBC.
