VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (1-0) edged the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades (0-1) 3-2 (22-25, 27-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-9) in their Canada West season opener in front of a boisterous home crowd at War Memorial Gym.

"First and foremost, we're really grateful for the crowd tonight," said UBC head coach Mike Hawkins after the hard-fought home-opening victory. "It makes a huge difference being able to play in front of friends and family and it was a raucous crowd. We needed everybody in this room rooting for us. To be honest it was kind of as expected. We knew UFV was going to push – they're a really good team with skilled guys in all positions. I thought Jonas Van Huizen, their setter, did a great job running their offence and at the end of the day we needed our big players to make big plays and Matt Neaves did every bit of that. What we look for from the service line is consistent pressure and an understanding that we're going to miss some with the aggression we're showing, but, in time, teams are just going to start getting tired of passing bombs. I thought UFV did a really good job of holding, but we had a couple huge one-passes that we forced in that fifth set and our block took care of business. We've talked about it being a meritocracy on our team…if you can play and fill a role, we'll find time to put you on the floor. Conaire Taub did a great job coming in to stabilize our serve-receive and bring a lot of energy and swagger tonight."



Matt Neaves put up a whopping 27 kills with eight aces and six blocks, Michael Dowhaniuk had 11 kills with six digs and three blocks, while Gerard Murray added eight kills on a 0.615 hitting percentage with five blocks in the win.
 
Nimo Benne led the Cascades with 13 kills and nine digs, Ryan Adams tallied 11 kills and five digs, and Ryan Hampe had five kills and five blocks in the five-set loss.
 
The visitors went on a 6-1 run in the first for a 15-11 lead on a Benne tip and led 16-11 with a Tyson Ardell block. Cole Brandsma came up with a big block of his own to make it a three-point game at 16-13 UFV. Neaves kept it a three-point game at 22-19 and a Murray block extended the set, but a Benne kill from the left side closed out the first set at 25-22 for Cascades.


 
Neaves dropped a pair of aces at 8-6 UBC in the second set, but UFV bounced back to take a narrow 13-11 lead. Dowhaniuk brought the 'Birds within one at 17-16 and again with a kill off the block at 18-17 in a tightly contested second set. Another Neaves ace made it 22-21, but with the score knotted up at 24-24, a Benne kill lifted the Cascades to a set point. The 'Birds defence came up big to prolong the set before Dowhaniuk earned a UBC set point with a kill and Mason Greves closed it out with a tip at 27-25.
 
Mason Greves came up with another kill for a 12-8 lead in the third set and Neaves got up for a kill at 14-8. Murray cranked a kill at 20-14 'Birds and a sneaky Dowhaniuk tip gave UBC a set point – that Dowhaniuk finished off with a kill at 25-17.
 
The Cascades led 14-11 in an entertaining start to the fourth set before Benne served up an ace and scored on a kill at 19-15 UFV. A Cascades error brought the T-Birds within one at 19-18 and the home team kept pace until a UBC service error gave UFV their first set point at 24-21 that Benne converted at 25-22 to force a fifth and deciding set.
 
Neaves crushed an overpass for a 2-2 tie in the third and scored on another first-touch kill at 3-3. A Cascades service error followed by a Neaves kill made it 8-6 UBC at the technical switch, before a monster Neaves block gave the 'Birds a 10-7 lead and forced a UFV timeout. Dowhaniuk and Vincett each earned massive blocks for a 12-7 cushion before Neaves' earned a match point with his 27^th kill. A UFV error punctuated the marathon season opener with a 15-9 fifth set win for the Thunderbirds.
 
The 'Birds and Cascades will rematch on Saturday night at War Memorial Gym with first serve slated for 6:45 p.m. (PT).