WINNIPEG – The UBC Thunderbirds came into Winnipeg guns blazing, as they landed 60 kills in four sets of work to power a 3-1 victory (26-24, 21-25, 25-19, 25-14) over the Bisons.
 
The T-Birds' talented trio of outside hitters – Reeve Gingera, Gavin Moes and Dawson Pratt – notched 44 of those kills between them, with Moes leading the way with 17 to go with four digs and four blocks. Mason Greves dished 48 assists while also adding 15 digs.
 
Kieran Robinson-Dunning had a big game in the middle as well, recording a career-best eight blocks to go with six kills on a .500 hitting percentage.
 
Karil Dadash Adeh tallied 17 kills and three blocks, while Eric Ogaranko put up 13 kills and eight digs. The Thunderbirds did a good job shutting down everyone else on the side of the Bisons, as the rest of the team combined for just 11 kills and 13 attack errors.
 
The first few points of the match did not go the T-Birds way, with the Bisons jumping out to a 7-3 lead. They got their legs under them as the set went along though, and tied up the score at 11-11 with a couple of big blocks.
 
A back row kill from Moes made it 15-13 in favour of the 'Birds, but they were unable to create any separation and neither team went up by more than two points for the rest of the set.
 
Gingera set up a UBC set point at 24-23 with an athletic kill on the left side, but the Bisons tied things up with a kill from Dadash Adeh. Not to be deterred, the Thunderbirds pulled out the next two points with a kill from Pratt followed by a Bisons attack error to take the opening set.


 
The second set began much like the first, with the Bisons jumping out to an early lead. While the T-Birds kept it very close – and tied the score on a number of occasions – they could never get over the hump to take the lead for themselves.
 
Finally, it was Manitoba who created some separation late, firing off a burst to at the end to take the frame 25-21 with a powerful Ogaranko kill as the final blow.
 
The Thunderbirds looked to be in danger of going down 2-1 in set count, as they fell behind 13-9 midway through the third. But a kill from Moes sparked a 9-1 run, capped by a thunderous Gingera attack that put the 'Birds in the driver's seat.
 
They ended up being able to cruise through the final stages of the frame, with Gingera finishing it off with a kill that made it 25-19.
 
The final round of action had the widest margin of victory of the night, as the Thunderbirds blew things wide open with another massive run. Tied up at 10 points each, the T-Birds proceeded to outscore the hosts 15-4 from there to finish off the night.
 
The blue and gold showed their explosive potential with a series of blocks and kills from every angle, overpowering the home team and winning comfortably in the end. Gingera put the cherry on top with his 15th kill of the night, as the T-Birds improved to 3-0 in the young season.
 
These two teams will be back at it on Sunday afternoon, with the first serve scheduled for 12:45 p.m. (PT). The Bisons will be desperate to avoid falling to 0-4, while the Thunderbirds are aiming for their first 4-0 start to a season since the 2017-18 campaign.