VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds defeated the visiting Winnipeg Wesmen 3-1 (25-21, 25-16, 22-25, 25-13) at War Memorial Gym Friday on UBC volleyball's annual Pride Night, a night to fundraise and raise awareness around issues facing LGBTQ+ people while creating an environment that's not just inclusive but celebratory of members of that community.
UBC head coach Mike Hawkins shared some words on the longstanding UBC tradition. "We knew this crowd was gonna be fun and an electric environment, and to enjoy it. At the end of the day, Pride is all about love. And love in its different forms, love in any relationship, whether it's like love with a partner, or a family member, or friend, our community is love. Volleyball is such a safe and inclusive sport, so for us to be able to exhibit that in a space like this tonight, it's pretty incredible."
After winning a tight first set, the 'Birds controlled the second. Winnipeg grabbed the third, but UBC regrouped and dominated the fourth to secure a 4-1 victory.
"I thought the first couple sets, we were allowing them to get what they wanted offensively," said Hawkins. "Both sides were attacking incredibly efficiently. And then the third set, we just made a few too many errors, but honestly, what I'm happiest about is just the way the group responded in the fourth. It's not that we needed to do anything crazy or different. ?We talk about just understanding what's worked to get us here and we did a really good job at utilizing that in the court."
Dawson Pratt led the 'Birds with 18 kills and added two service aces, Reeve Gingera and Gavin Moes put up 12 and 11 kills, respectively, while Mason Greves jumped to fifth in all-time Canada West assists with a 38 assist on the night.
Jaxon Rose had a solid offensive performance for the Wesmen with 14 kills. Like Lodewyks and Easton Dick added eight kills apiece.
Gingera knotted up the evenly matched opening set at 5-5, and the 'Birds took an 11-7 lead on a Pratt kill. A powerful Dick block at the end of a four-point unanswered Wesmen scoring run decreased the deficit to two at 13-11. The score remained close through much of the set until UBC pulled ahead on a Winnipeg attacking error and closed out the set at 25-21 on a cross court Moes kill.
Gingera built a slight advantage for the 'Birds at the start of the second set, before back to back Pratt kills made it 15-9 UBC. The T-Birds continued to a 20-12 edge off a Gingera kill, and Pratt scored an ace for a 25-16 UBC set.
Wesmen jumped out to an early 8-4 lead in the third set, before a Robinson-Dunning block tied the score at 10-all. A Greves kill put UBC ahead at 16-14, but Rose quickly brought it back for the Wesmen at 17-17. Rose struck again for 22-20, and Wesmen forced a fourth set with a 25-22 finish.
Moes scored back to back in set four, forcing the visitors to call a timeout at 9-4. The blue and gold pulled ahead for a nine-point cushion at 17-8 on a Robinson-Dunning and Moes double block. The visitors struggled to string together points, and UBC won the match with a Marcus Morgan finish, 25-13.
"Marcus Morgan had three kills on three attempts, which is amazing," added Hawkins. "I love that he was the one that got the ball at the end and he put it away with the confidence that he knows he can get the job done."
The two teams close out the back-to-back series Saturday, November 29, in UBC's last match before the winter break.
"We know that Winnipeg's gonna be a really tough team to put away, and they showed that tonight," added Hawkins, looking forward to Saturday's matchup. "We know it's gonna be a good fight tomorrow, so we expect that they are gonna continue playing really smart volleyball. They're a really well coached team and they've got some good guys on the floor. So the challenge for us is to match their mentality, match the way that they're playing, and continue asserting our style."
The rematch starts at 4:00 p.m. (PT) Saturday at War Memorial Gym.
