VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds took down the MacEwan University Griffins 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 10-25, 25-20) at War Memorial Gym to improve to 4-1 on the Canada West regular season.
 
"To their credit, I thought MacEwan played really well," said UBC head coach Mike Hawkins after the 'Birds earned their third consecutive victory. "They received really well and one of our focusses for the night was consistent service pressure. That didn't pay off until the latter half of the fourth set, which was frustrating for some of our guys – who then were maybe reaching back and trying to do too much. Kudos to MacEwan."
 
Matt Neaves had a team-high 16 kills and added four aces, three blocks, and five digs for the T-Birds, Michael Dowhaniuk put up 10 kills with three aces and five digs, and Gerard Murray totalled five kills with four blocks and an ace in the victory.


 
"That was a pretty typical Neaves game," said Hawkins as the fourth-year hitter returned home after an outstanding performance on the road earned him both Canada West and U SPORTS Player of the Week honours. "We found him at the right times as opposed to going to him to bail us out like we have in previous matches. I think we just need to find a little bit more offence anywhere other than him to get us going."  
 
For the Griffins, who are still in search of their first victory, Alexei Walisser led the team with 17 kills, Jefferson Morrow had 11 kills with nine digs, and setter Alexander Lyndon had 34 assists with three aces and two kills.


 
A marathon rally in the first set brought the Griffins within one at 11-10 UBC and the two teams traded blows to a 20-20 tie before Neaves cracked a kill for the lead. The 'Birds went up 23-21 after a MacEwan error and closed out the set at 25-23 with a pair of Neaves back row kills.
 
Walisser scored on a back row kill for the Griffins early in the second, but UBC won a lengthy rally to knot it up at 3-3 and Neaves earned a solo block for an 11-7 advantage. The visitors pulled within one on a Lyndon kill at 19-18 before Dowhaniuk picked up a kill on a free ball and served an ace at 23-20. A Dowhaniuk back row kill lifted the 'Birds to a set point that they converted with a MacEwan service error at 25-22.
 
The Griffins stormed out to a 6-0 lead in the third set before Jesse Umoren scored a kill to put UBC on the board. Cole Brandsma entered the game and earned two kills for the T-Birds, but the Griffins extended their lead to seven points on a Morrow kill at 13-6. Morrow notched another kill for a 20-8 lead and MacEwan took the set on a UBC error at 25-10.


 
Neaves dialled up a kill for a 6-3 lead in the fourth set and Dowhaniuk cranked an ace for a 15-11 UBC advantage. Walisser cut the deficit to three with a kill at 22-19 T-Birds, but Neaves added another kill for a match point that ended on a MacEwan attack error at 25-20.
 
The 'Birds and Griffins take to the court at War Memorial Gym for a rematch on Saturday evening at 6:45 p.m. (PT). Tickets are available online and all the action can be streamed live on Canada West TV.