CALGARY – The UBC Thunderbirds (14-1) pulled away against the Calgary Dinos (6-9) on Friday, bouncing back from a tough third set to blitz the Dinos in the fourth and walk away with a 3-1 (25-16, 25-20, 17-25, 25-13) win in the first half of their back-to-back at Jack Simpson Gym.
UBC was led, as always, by the standout setting of
Mason Greves. The fifth-year, playing in his final series in his hometown of Calgary, was spectacular in piling up 38 assists to move into third in that category in Canada West history. Already the program record-holder, Greves now sits at 3668 career regular season assists, passing Winnipeg's Dustin Addison-Schneider for third place on the all-time list. He is 148 back of Canadian Senior National Team teammate Luke Herr for second all-time, with five regular season games remaining.
Greves added a match-high 10 digs for good measure, which puts him at 712 in his career, good for third in program history and 17
th all-time in Canada West.
Other T-Birds did cool stuff, too.
Reeve Gingera led all attackers with 14 kills, along with a season-high eight digs.
Alex Emery bolstered his already absurdly efficient attacking season by burying eight kills on 11 attacks for a standout .727 hitting percentage, while also leading the match with five blocks. Emery, and fellow starting middle
Kieran Robinson-Dunning, would easily be first and second in the conference in hitting percentage, but both fall just short of the requisite three attacks per set to qualify.
The 'Birds and Dinos went point for point early in the first set, with both teams looking sharp in serve-receive. On the attack, Calgary frequently employed what can only be described as hard tips to earn points on wipes off of would-be UBC blockers, while the T-Birds swung away freely. Eventually, the blue and gold blockers began deliberately pushing and directing the ball as the turned away the Dinos' attacks, neutralizing the home side's soft-ball strategy and turning the tide in their favour.
Logan Greves made a stunning, sliding, one-handed dig to save a point that put UBC up 23-16, before an Emery block sealed a 25-16 win in the first frame.
The Dinos came roaring out of the gate in the second set, winning the first three points. The T-Birds tied it up at 7-7, with middles Emery and Robinson-Dunning looking dominant both blocking and on the attack. Then two Calgary-born 'Birds,
Mason Greves and star outside hitter
Reeve Gingera, began to take over. Greves was disguising his sets beautifully, employing impenetrable body language and a feather-soft touch as he lofted balls all over the court. Many of those, front or back row, left or right side, ended up going to Gingera, who proved deadly from all parts of the court. The two seniors led UBC to steadily build a lead, culminating in a 25-20 win, and 2-0 advantage, behind 11 kills from Gingera over the first two sets.
The third saw the T-Birds deal with some rare miscues as the Dinos played their best. Calgary never trailed, though UBC never let them out of arm's reach either. With easily their lowest attack percentage of the match at .081, the 'Birds fell 25-17 to see their lead reduced to 2-1.
The blue and gold found their form in the fourth, looking in control from start to finish. A diverse T-Birds attack had the Dinos defence looking consistently uncomfortable, prompting Calgary to use both of their timeouts by the time the score was 11-5 for the visitors. The stoppages did not help, as the 'Birds hit a blistering.545 en route to an easy 25-13 win to take the match.
The two teams meet again at Jack Simpson Gym for a Saturday afternoon rematch, slated to start at 4:45 p.m. (PT). Catch it live, or on demand, on
Canada West TV.
