BRANDON, Man. – The Thunderbirds (7-1) managed to avoid having to go to five-sets for the third consecutive match, as they took down the Brandon Bobcats (3-3) in four this time (25-19, 23-25, 29-27, 25-21).
Wil Basilio set a season-high in kills for the second night in a row with 17, also adding six digs and two blocks. Gavin Moes had 13 kills, seven digs and three blocks, while the duo of Alex Emery and Danny Cravioto-Ross combined for an efficient 10 kills and nine blocks over the middle.
The 'Birds held the Bobcats in check in the opening set, forcing the hosts into nine attack errors to go with just six kills. UBC took a big lead early, and despite an 8-3 Brandon run that cut the margin to just a single point, the T-Birds responded with a big burst of their own capped by a block from Cravioto-Ross and Basilio that made it 25-19.
The second set was a different story, as this time it was the Bobcats who jumped out to the early advantage and maintained it for the rest of the set. That was despite a monstrous UBC rally late on, when after the Bobcats went up 24-18 the 'Birds staved off five straight set points before Ethan Baraniuk finally ended the frame with a kill.
The third had just as tight of a finish, after an Emery and Dawson Pratt block gave UBC set point at 24-23. Brandon stayed alive, however, and fought off three additional set points after that as the score continued to climb higher. UBC stayed on the offensive, however, never letting the Bobcats get a set point of their own before a Basilio kill finally nudged the visitors out in front by two.
The T-Birds hit .542 as a team in the fourth, with 15 kills and just two attack errors as opposed to nine kills and six errors for the Bobcats. Despite that, the score remained close until late, in large part due to the hosts serving five aces. But after the Bobcats took an 18-16 lead, the 'Birds scored nine of the final 12 points to take the win, ending with three more Basilio kills in succession.
The 'Birds will be out east again next weekend, as they fly back to Manitoba to this time take on the Winnipeg Wesmen on November 20 and 21.
