VANCOUVER – A feisty Thompson Rivers WolfPack side put up a great fight, but in the end it was the UBC Thunderbirds who came out on top in five sets (25-21, 19-25, 25-19, 26-28, 15-9) to win their 11th consecutive match.
Sam Flowerday starred for the visitors with 19 kills, 12 digs and three blocks. Rylan Ibbetson put up 12 kills and nine digs as TRU became the first road team to win more than one set in a match at War Memorial Gym this season.
"Kudos to them, I thought they made some very good adjustments," said Thunderbirds head coach
Mike Hawkins. "In the middle sets things kind of got away from us a little bit. I think we were being a little impatient, but then we just settled in…we did a good job of making the plays when we needed to."
The night as a whole was an offensive showcase for the T-Birds, with a number of players putting up some gaudy stats.
Gavin Moes led the charge with 17 kills, nine digs and a career-high eight aces, while
Owen Lam set new season-highs in both kills (13) and digs (10).
Overall, the 'Birds had five players notch double digit kill totals, including
Dawson Pratt (12),
Alex Emery (12, career-best) and
Kieran Robinson-Dunning (10).
Mason Greves dished out 56 assists to go along with 12 digs.
"For us to be able to get 22 kills out of the middles, with both Alex and Kieran attacking really efficiently, that then opens up things to the outside," added Hawkins. "It's a fun team for Mason to set, especially when we can receive well. We have a lot of good options."
Both teams came out of the gates firing, with Moes getting a kill and then back-to-back aces to make it 9-5 UBC. A kill and a block from Flowerday helped TRU briefly cut into the deficit, but the T-Birds were able to stretch it out further.
Three kills in quick succession from Emery put the score at 19-12, and although the WolfPack eventually got the lead down to just three points late on, kills from Emery and Pratt finished out the set at 25-21.
The second set seemed to be almost a carbon copy of the first to begin, as once again Moes landed consecutive aces to make it 9-5 for the home team. The WolfPack, however, weren't about to let the same result happen, and reeled off an impressive 10-2 run to take control.
The T-Birds fell behind 22-15 as the visitors continued to pour it on. Despite a late comeback push, a series of errors doomed the 'Birds as they dropped their first set of the weekend.
It was a very back-and-forth beginning to the third, with the teams tied up at 10 apiece before a massive block from Robinson-Dunning followed by a kill from Lam nudged the Thunderbirds out in front.
The 'Birds turned it on in the later stages of the set, with Emery and Moes leading the charge. The two T-Birds combined to record three kills and a double block in a run of consecutive points that left the WolfPack reeling. Robinson-Dunning and Greves combined on the set-winning block at 25-19.
Set number four was a doozy, although it started off a bit slow due to both teams being plagued by some service errors. UBC held an early lead, but the WolfPack roared back with a run and the two squads entered the final few points knotted at 22.
A kill from Flowerday followed by a block from Gavin Margerison and Tyson Koop set up set point for Thompson Rivers, but clutch kills from Lam and Moes pushed the score past the 25-point barrier. However, it was the WolfPack who eventually gutted out the win at 28-26, forcing a decisive final set.
Playing in their first fifth set since the opening week of the season, the T-Birds came out hot. Robinson-Dunning followed up a kill with a solo block to cap an 8-2 run to start the final stanza, with the blue and gold then going up 11-4 to put themselves fully in the driver's seat.
TRU still refused to quit, and managed to get the lead as close as three points, but the Thunderbirds had one more run in them and ended the night on a
Nicholas Johnson ace.
Despite the scare, UBC improves now to 13-3 on the season and 9-0 at War Memorial Gym. With just four matches remaining in the regular season, next up is a pivotal road series against Alberta, who are 12-4.
"It's always a good battle with the Bears," said Hawkins. "We know they're going to be a tough battle, we know they've got the best player in the country, and our job is going to be inflicting our style of play on what they do."
The Golden Bears are led by outside hitter Isaac Heslinga, the reigning U SPORTS Player of the Year who once again leads Canada West in kills this season. The T-Birds are looking for some measure of revenge against the team that beat them in both the conference and national semifinals last season.
Those matches happen on Friday, February 7th, and Saturday, February 8th, in Edmonton. After that is the final weekend of the regular season, when UBC will host the UFV Cascades on the Friday and Saturday of February 14th and 15th.
