VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (5-1) completed their second consecutive series sweep with a 3-1 (19-25, 25-11, 25-19, 25-21) win over the MacEwan University Griffins (0-6) inside War Memorial Gym.
 
The 'Birds showed a more balanced attack with Michael Dowhaniuk and Matt Neaves each totalling 13 kills, while Conaire Taub and Gerard Murray both had nine kills on the night. Neaves added six aces and six digs, Conaire Taub had four blocks and Jesse Umoren put up five blocks in the win.

??MVB | @ubcmvb improve to 5-1 after posting a 3-1 victory tonight over @MacEwanGriffins at War Memorial Gym. The 'Birds are now 5-1 and have won four straight games! #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/2UJbnzHKGT

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) November 6, 2022

 
"I was pleased with the distribution of our offence," said UBC head coach Mike Hawkins after the T-Birds earned their fourth straight victory. "That was kind of what we were talking about last night – not relying on Neaves to get us out of trouble, and both he and Mikey tied for the match-high with kills, Gerard had nine and Conaire had nine…everybody was hitting quite efficiently. It was great to see."
 
Alexei Walisser racked up a season-high 18 kills and had two aces and two blocks for MacEwan, as Jefferson Morrow and Carsten Bergeron each had seven kills over four sets of play.


 
A tightly contested first set saw little separating the two teams until a Jonah Karsten ace put the Griffins up 15-12 and Bergeron maintained the three-point edge at 18-15. Walisser ripped an ace at 23-19 and gave the Griffins a set point on a kill before closing it out at 25-19 with another service ace.
 
Murray scored two straight kills for the 'Birds early in the second set and Conaire Taub gave UBC a 6-3 lead with a kill before one of Neaves' five aces in the set forced a Griffins timeout. Jesse Umoren got up for a huge kill at 18-10 T-Birds and Conaire Taub and Murray teamed up for back-to-back blocks at 20-10. Neaves dropped a pair of aces to comfortably claim the second set for the Thunderbirds at 25-11.
 
UBC jumped out to a 6-0 cushion in the third set until Jefferson Morrow tagged the sideline with a kill to stop the run. The T-Birds maintained their lead through the set and picked up a set point on a MacEwan error before closing it out at 25-19 on an Umoren and Neaves block. 


 
Dowhaniuk dialled up a kill to cap off a lengthy rally at 3-3 in the fourth and a Karsten ace dropped in to continue the back-and-forth battle at 9-9. Dowhaniuk opened a 13-11 UBC lead with an ace and Conaire Taub and Murray teamed up for a block and a three-point advantage. Dowhaniuk reached back for a kill at 23-18, but the Griffins fought off three match points on a Bergeron kill and a pair of Walisser attacks that made it 24-21. Neaves finally closed out the match for the 'Birds at 25-21 to complete the sweep.
 
"We want to continue diversifying our offence," said Hawkins as the T-Birds continue to build early in the season. "I think there are parts of our game that are starting to click, but the more our attack distribution can look like it did tonight, the more dangerous of an offence we are."
 
Next up for the Thunderbirds is a trip to Manitoba to meet the Bisons on November 11^th and 12^th while the Griffins enter a bye week away from Canada West action.