LANGLEY, B.C. – The UBC Thunderbirds dropped a second straight road decision in four sets to the Trinity Western Spartans 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 19-25, 25-15) Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre.
Mathias Elser (Calgary) posted an incredibly well-rounded line of stats, tossing six kills, seven assists, four aces, and six digs into the mix. Elser's offensive efforts were not only impressive, but incredibly efficient as well as the second-year's hitting efficiency ended at 45.5 percent.
Brodie Hofer (Langley, B.C.) also bore a large offensive responsibility for the Spartans, putting down 13 kills through all four sets played on Saturday.
On UBC's end,
Matt Neaves and
James Vincett were stellar, completing 11 and 10 kills apiece. Vincett's efforts were enough to lead the Thunderbirds in points with 13.
AS IT HAPPENED
The first set found UBC's
Matt Neaves put forth a dominant attacking performance, carrying the Thunderbirds to a 10-9 game in favour of the Spartans. Still, the strength of the home team was far too much as TWU outscored the Thunderbirds 15-9 for the remainder of the set, riding a
Jesse Elser (Calgary) serving run to cruise to a 1-0 lead.
The Spartans were quickly greeted by a highly energized UBC team in the second set. With both teams at four points apiece, the Spartans turned up the heat, moving to a 17-9 lead. Although TWU had UBC on their heels, the Thunderbirds rallied back to make things interesting thanks to a
James Vincett serving run of five. With UBC threatening,
Jackson Howe (Calgary) and
Brodie Hofer (Langley, B.C.) put down two crucial kills to put the Thunderbirds at odds.
In the third set, UBC surged early off of a series of errors from the Spartans. With the set tilting in favour of the Thunderbirds, stellar serving from
Matt Neaves and crucial blocking from
Gerard Murray put the home team at a 13-19 deficit. The Spartans were unable to take a stronghold on the set, handing UBC a 25-19 set victory.
After a set was taken by the Thunderbirds, the Spartans answered back, coming out to an early 6-0 lead thanks to
Mathias Elser's (Calgary) tough serving, and a barrage of kills from
Brodie Hofer. The Spartans continued to roll, ending the game at a 3-1 victory in favour of the home side.
UP NEXT
The Thunderbirds now 2-2 on the Canada West season next travel to UBC Okanagan next weekend for a series against the Heat beginning Friday, December 3 with an 8:00 p.m. start in Kelowna.
