VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (2-0) downed the visiting Calgary Dinos (0-2) 3-1 (25-17, 25-20, 24-26, 25-11) on Saturday afternoon at War Memorial Gym to start the season with a series sweep.
"We expected Calgary to come out, play well and push us the way that they did," said head coach Mike Hawkins. "I thought they made a few good adjustments and just made us uncomfortable. But similar to last night, the service pressure was significant for us. A few less service errors, a few more service aces, which obviously is always nice, but especially at this point of the year. We just need to continue being aggressive from the baseline. It's going to put teams in a lot of predictable situations, which just makes our defence and our transition offence way better, and I thought we did a good job at times tonight."
After controlling the first two sets, UBC fell behind early in the third. Despite a comeback to tie the score late, the 'Birds dropped the set to the Dinos. UBC responded with a dominant fourth set, winning 25-11 to secure a 3-1 victory.
"In the third set, Calgary made some good shots," commented Hawkins. "They did a really good job of holding us in reception, but I'm really proud of the way we answered it. I said to the guys that we don't need to change anything in the fourth set. Let's just be patient and return to simple. Then we did that right out of the gates. We need to continue developing the confidence and the self-assurance that other teams are going to win sets, they're going to make plays, but if we're going to stick to simple UBC volleyball, we'll be fine."
Gavin Moes led the T-Birds with 14 kills and four aces, Wil Basilio contributed 9 kills with four aces of his own, and Danny Cravioto-Ross added eight kills.
On the other side of the net, Cole Czepuryk had 11 kills, six digs, and an ace, while Max Grantham and Marshall Qually put up 10 and 6 kills, respectively.
Basilio opened the first set with back-to-back service aces before Moes added two of his own to force a Dinos timeout with UBC leading 7-3. The 'Birds continued to build their advantage with huge hits from Carvioto-Ross and a Carvioto-Ross-Pratt block to make it 17-11. Calgary responded to cut the deficit to five at 18-13, but UBC regained control. Pratt put the 'Birds at set point before setter Daniel Lewis closed out the set with a service ace, 25-17.
The Dinos came out of the break re-energized, trading points with the 'Birds early in the set. Sam Kay gave Calgary a narrow 6-4 lead before a Pratt block tied the score at 6-6. The teams continued to battle through an intense rally, which the Dinos won with a Luke Nodwell kill from the left side. UBC started to pull ahead midway through the set, with a Pratt block extending the hosts' lead to 17-14. Calgary stayed within reach but couldn't close the gap, as Basilio sealed the set 25-20 for the 'Birds.
Calgary opened set three with a five-point scoring run, forcing an early UBC timeout before extending their lead to 7-2 on a Grantham hit down the middle. The 'Birds gradually closed the gap, pulling within two at 15-13 on an Alex Emry block. The Dinos maintained their advantage late into the set, but a Moes service ace and two Calgary hits out of bounds brought UBC level at 23-23. Grantham earned set point for the Dinos on a kill before a UBC attacking error handed Calgary the set 26-24.
UBC responded with a dominant fourth set, jumping out to a 10-3 lead. Emry added a service ace to extend the advantage to 13-4, followed by a Moes back row kill for 14-5. Basilio's middle attack pushed the lead to 18-7 before Emry sealed the 25-11 set win with another ace as UBC took the match 3-1.
The 'Birds now hit the road to face the Saskatchewan Huskies on Friday, October 30 at 6:30 pm (PT) and Sunday, October 31 at 2:30 pm (PT).
The Dinos now enter a bye week but return to play at home as they host the UBCO Heat for a pair of games on November 6 and November 7.
