VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (9-1) battled to a 3-1 (25-16, 13-25, 25-18, 25-16) victory over the Winnipeg Wesmen (4-6) on Saturday evening at War Memorial Gym. In their final home weekend before the winter break, the 'Birds were pushed in both matchups, dropping key sets, but rallied when it mattered to close out the series with two strong 3-1 victories.
"I'm really proud of the way that we bounced back from that second set," said UBC head coach Mike Hawkins. "It felt like the end of the semester, a little bit. I think both teams were a little tired. There were more attacking errors than you'd probably expect from our two teams. And when you get punched in the mouth, the way that we did in the second set, sometimes it's hard to bounce back, but being able to respond 25-18, 25-16, I think shows a lot about our group, the way we can handle adversity and the way that we can just get the job done."
For the 'Birds, Reeve Gingera led the way with 16 kills. Alex Emery chipped in ten kills, while Gavin Moes tallied eight kills, an ace, and six block assists.
On the other side of the net, Rose Jaxon and Aidan Hruska had nine kills each, with Luke Lodewyks contributing eight kills and two aces.
Hruska struck down the line for an early 7-3 Wesmen lead in the first set, but Gingera tied it up at 8-all. A Moes and Kieran Robinson-Dunning double block gave UBC their first multi-point lead at 14-12. The pair combined again to increase the gap to four at 18-12, before Moes put away the set at 25-16.
Hruska capped off a tense rally and Rose served an ace to open the second set with a 6-1 Wesmen lead. The visitors pushed it to a 10-2 after a Hruska ace, and a strong Alex Krykewich serving run made it 16-4. A Gingera kill cut the deficit to 10 at 20-10, but the comeback was cut short and the Wesmen took the set at 25-13 off a UBC service error.
A Lodewyks block brought the Wesmen up 5-2 at the start of the third, but UBC were able to bring it back and take their first lead of the set off a Gingera kill at 10-9. A tactical tip from Gingera extended their lead to 18-14, before Robinson-Dunning finished off the set 25-18.
Back-to-back Gingera kills set the tone early in the fourth. Two Moes blocks put UBC in slight advantage in the tight set at 14-9. Emery added a kill for a seven-point cushion, and Dawson Pratt sealed the match with a back-row finish for a 25–16 win.
The Thunderbirds now head into winter break and return to action on January 9 for their first weekend series of the new year at the University of Saskatchewan.
"Some rest first and foremost," Hawkins explained. "We'll take a couple days off. It's really awesome, you can use the December time just to tighten the screws a little bit. You get a break from the tactical focus and can shift toward individual development. So we're going to enjoy a couple days off and then get back to the lab."
