EDMONTON - Despite a strong start, the UBC Thunderbirds were unable to keep their momentum going as they fell 3-1 (21-25, 25-21, 25-23, 25-20) on the road against their rivals the Alberta Golden Bears.
Alberta's Isaac Heslinga, Liam Espedido, and Trent Cherewaty combined for 30 kills to help the Golden Bears in a hotly contested match Friday evening at the Saville Centre. They hit .339 compared to the Thunderbirds' .287 in what was an impressive showcase of arms on both sides.
Gavin Moes paced UBC in kills with 13, while Dawson Pratt had 10. Alex Emery notched a match-high four blocks as the T-Birds recorded three and a half more blocks as a team compared to the hosts.
The first set was largely dominated by the Thunderbirds, a 25-21 win, quieting a large Friday night crowd. Pratt paced all players with five kills in the frame as the UBC offence was stellar, hitting .462 as a team.
The Bears showed some momentum at the end that would carry into the next set, where they matched the TBirds with a 25-21 win of their own. Espedido was stellar, recording six kills and getting his attacks past a stout UBC defence.
A third set that took nearly 35 minutes was the highlight of the night, as Alberta battled to a 25-23 victory in a frame that featured eight ties and a couple lead changes.
From there, a 25-20 win in the fourth with the crowd blaring was in store for Alberta as they snapped out a recent funk with an 3-1 overall match win. The loss was UBC's first since November 8th, after winning their previous 11 matches.
The two teams return to play tomorrow evening for their second and final regular season matchup. That rematch has massive playoff seeding implications, with the Thunderbirds and Golden Bears now both sitting at 13-4 and tied for second place in the Canada West standings.
