VANCOUVER – The U SPORTS No. 2 ranked UBC Thunderbirds outlasted the No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans in a five-set thriller (25-19, 24-26, 21-25, 25-20, 17-15) in front of a raucous home court crowd at War Memorial Gym on Friday night.
Just one week prior, the T-Birds fell short of a comeback in a five setter, but impressive play from outside hitters,
Reeve Gingera,
Gavin Moes and the middle,
Kieran Robinson-Dunning, were enough to reverse the result in the anticipated rematch.
Gingera finished with 15 kills, five digs and an ace, while Moes added 15 kills of his own and Robinson-Dunning contributed 10 kills and six blocks.
"I really think that he (Gingera) has emerged as a big-time player, he hit .367 against a really good blocking team, received well and was bombing from the baseline," said UBC head coach
Mike Hawkins about his fourth-year standout. "He has been on a journey since he has been moved to the left side, and he has been fighting and fighting these two matches."
The Spartans were led by Kaden Schmidt who finished with a game high 25 kills, while Jackson Corneil added eleven kills and eight digs. Willem Van Huizen and Cory Schoenherr both added ten kills apiece.
The game started with both teams trading points, as neither was able to sustain an early run. Some key defensive plays from
Alex Emery and
Dawson Pratt allowed the 'Birds to go ahead, 8-5.
Moes followed with an emphatic stop of his own at the net and then found his rhythm in nailing back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 15-9, prompting the first timeout called by the visitors.
The Spartans came out of the break with some mistakes that would be tough to recover from as the T-Birds continued with stout defence to take the first set 25-19 with Moes leading the charge with four kills on eight attacks.
The Second stanza started with a strong kill from Schmidt, but the T-Birds were quick to respond with kills of their own.
Kieran Robinson-Dunning powered one through the middle, Gingera and Pratt used the blockers to their advantage and picked up a kill each keeping them at 3-3.
Consecutive service errors piled up, allowing Schmidt and TWU to catch fire, as he racked up four consecutive kills and gave the Spartans a four-point lead, 13-9.
A huge block by Emery swung momentum UBC's way as the home squad used the block to perfection on consecutive attacks from Moes and Gingera. The 'Birds continued to press the Spartans, as Robinson-Dunning led the way by rejecting an attack down the middle, followed by a kill to put the T-Birds up 22-18.
"He [Robinson-Dunning] is our captain for a reason," added Hawkins. "It's nice because I know that I can challenge him mid game, if I feel like he is not asserting his presence the way I know that he can." "In the fourth set, I think he came out with an attitude to take the game over and he had a couple of situations in the fifth set where he made plays."
The Spartans showed resiliency and fought their way back, as Schmidt showed why he is a top player in the nation. He forced the Thunderbirds to play on the back feet from the service line, which he punctuated with a service ace for set point, as the Spartans secured set number two 26-24.
The third frame was a little choppy as both teams traded points and weren't able to establish position at the service line once again. Anselm Rein struck with an ace after an off-speed kill from Schmidt which helped the Spartans establish a three-point lead, 20-17.
The Thunderbirds clawed back with some miraculous stops at the net with two floating balls, bringing themselves within one, 22-21. But those efforts weren't enough to make a comeback, as the Spartans closed the third set 25-21.
Gingera started to heat up in the fourth, as he set the tone with three consecutive kills from the left, followed by Moes delivering a soft touch to add to an early 8-4 lead
The T-Birds rode the momentum, putting consistent pressure on the Spartans who mounted a five-point run, to bring them within five after trailing by nine, 19-14. However, the 'Birds defensive play held the Spartans to a .057 hit percentage, their lowest of the night to claim the fourth set 25-20 and force a fifth frame.
The fifth set saw Gingera duelling Schmidt. The two racked up a pair of kills and an ace each. The Spartans led 8-7 at the exchange, but in the clutch the Thunderbirds made plays.
"I think we recognized last week that we did a lot of things well," concluded Hawkins. "It's just in the red zone that we didn't make the plays that we needed to and that was the difference in the fifth set. We were down 8-7 at the turn, a tape ace for them, but we just knew that when we were going to get deep in the set that we were going to make plays."
Next week the Thunderbirds will host the Winnipeg Wesmen for a weekend series on Friday November, 28 and Saturday November, 29 before their holiday break. The Spartans on the other hand will travel to Edmonton to face the Alberta Golden Bears.
