Vancouver – In a roller coaster five-set thriller it was the UBC Thunderbirds who outlasted the Winnipeg Wesmen 3-2 (25-19, 25-23, 26-28, 25-19, 15-11) to sweep the best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series 2-0 Saturday, night at War Memorial Gym.
With the win the third ranked T-Birds advance to meet the number two seed Alberta Golden Bears in a semifinal playoff series beginning next weekend.
Leading the way for UBC was
Matt Neaves with a game high 25 kills while
Coltyn Liu added 21 kills and a game high six service aces to along with nine digs. For the Wesmen, Daniel Thiessen registered a team high 24 kills while Ethan Duncan recorded 14 kills. Fifth-year Setter Mikael Clegg added 41 assists and five digs.
"I had no doubt in this group," said UBC assistant coach
Ian Perry post game. "All credit to the guys for battling back against a really gritty Winnipeg side, we know that team is tough and really tough to put away and just credit to our guys for sticking with it and some key guys coming off the bench to play a pivotal role."
Meanwhile Clegg who was all over the court for the visitors was pleased with his squad's battle level in his final career game as a Wesmen.
"It was a great game, that's a really good team on the other side of the net, we had some real big swings and they had some real big swings, it was awesome. We came out and fought tonight, as our playoff hopes were on the line and we fought hard."
The fifth set saw the 'Birds carry some of their momentum forward from an emotional fourth frame, it was Thiessen who continued to set the tone for Winnipeg while Liu and Neaves led the way for UBC with five kills each. Neaves would score four straight points to give UBC a 7-5 advantage before back-to-back kills from
Danny Aspenlieder increased the lead to 10-6. Liu would then takeover with three straight points including consecutive kills followed by his sixth service ace of the night to claim the 15-11 win and 3-2 match victory.
UBC jumped out to an early 5-3 first set lead after a kill by
Gerard Murray but the Wesmen responded with back to back big plays from Zackery Thielmann going high for an impressive kill followed by a block to even things at 5-5.
Ben Hooker would be heard from through the middle part of the frame collecting his third kill ahead of a service ace to put the T-Birds up 11-8, moments later
Michael Dowhaniuk's kill of the block gave UBC the 13-9 lead and forced Winnipeg's first timeout. For a second straight night Liu was feeling it from the service line as he dialed up back-to-back aces, two of a set high four to go ahead 17-9 before a Neaves kill caused another Wesmen timeout at 19-12. Thiessen added to his set high five kills bringing the visitors within 22-16 but Dowhaniuk would add to his team high four kills in guiding the 'Birds to a 25-19 first period victory. Both teams were efficient in the opener as UBC enjoyed a .500 hitting percentage while the Wesmen countered with a .579 hitting percentage.
The second set saw both teams trade points, Thielmann went high for another block to tie things at 8-8 for Winnipeg before Duncan finished off a long rally with a crafty off-speed shot to give the Wesmen a 13-12 lead. Moving along a Nick Mickleberry kill gave UBC a 23-21 lead but it was Winnipeg who responded after their timeout with Duncan adding another of his four kills while Thiessen continued to do damage with a couple of his team high five kills to power the comeback and overtake UBC 24-23 at set point. The Wesmen would secure the 25-23 second set win and even things at 1-1 after UBC was called for reaching beyond the net. For the hosts it was Neaves delivering a set high six kills while Liu counted another four kills.
Similar to the previous period, the third set was also a back and forth slugfest, following a monster rally it was a Duncan kill that had Winnipeg trailing 10-9 before Keegan Teetaert evened things at 10-10. Once again it was Thiessen and Duncan leading the way for Winnipeg with five and four kills respectively in the frame before Neaves registered back-to-back kills, two of his set high eight to tie the game at 25-25. The squads would trade more points ahead of UBC sending it long and the Wesmen claiming a second straight set 28-26 to go up 2-1.
After dropping two consecutive sets UBC responded to stay alive in the fourth, a Murray block put UBC in front 16-12 heading into the technical timeout. One of Neaves five kill's in the frame extended the hosts lead to 19-15 before Deshane counted one of his five kills to go up 21-17. For the Wesmen, Thiessen had the team high five kills while Austin Anderson added three kills visitors trailing 24-19. Liu would add the finishing touch with his set high sixth kill to claim the 25-19 victory and even the match at 2-2 to force a fifth and deciding frame.
The T-Birds will next travel to Edmonton where they'll open a best-of-three Canada West semifinal series against the Golden Bears beginning next weekend.
