‘Birds earn thrilling five-set victory over TRU

The UBC Thunderbirds fought to the finish and outlasted the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack 3-2 (25-27, 29-27, 25-13, 23-25, 15-13) in their return to War Memorial Gym to begin 2022.

“It’s so much fun to play in this gym,” said UBC assistant coach Matt Krueger after the ‘Birds returned to home court following a lengthy winter break. “I went to TRU, so it’s even more fun to play them here. The fans were awesome, they fired us up and kept us going.”

UBC was resilient in improving their Canada West record to 4-3, despite multiple players shifting positions to fill spots in the lineup.

“We’ll take it,” said Kruger. “We had a lot of guys in and out of practice this week, and we didn’t really know what to expect, so we’re super proud of the boys. That wasn’t an easy thing for them to come in and do. We had Matt Neaves playing in the middle, which isn’t his normal position, Tyson Smith came and played left side…so mad props to them for stepping onto the court and playing the roles that we needed them to play. We were nervous to start with that lineup, so now that we have that under our belts it’ll help a lot moving forward. We’ll be better for it in the long run.”

?? MVB | @ubcmvb libero Tyson Smith following the ‘Birds’ five set win over @GoTRUWolfPack to open up 2022 pic.twitter.com/S9sqj03x4Q

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) January 15, 2022

Smith tallied a career-high four kills – adding 11 digs – as the fifth-year libero stepped into a different role to start the calendar year.

“I think it just shows our depth,’ said Smith following the five-set win. “It’s not ideal for the guys we have out there right now, and some dudes had to play different positions they’re not used to, but I think it just shows we’re there to compete, to have fun and play with each other and when guys have to step up, they did a good job, so it was a good night.”

Matt Neaves led the ‘Birds with 17 kills, Cole Brandsma had a season-high 15 kills, and Michael Dowhaniuk put up 14 kills with a team-high five aces in the victory.

Anton Napolitano totalled nine kills, 16 assists, and 13 digs, Thundersky WalkingBear had seven kills and six total blocks, while Sam Flowerday had seven kills with three aces in the narrow loss as TRU falls to 1-5 on the season.

The Wolfpack jumped out to an early 3-0 lead before Neaves put the ‘Birds on the board with a kill. Cole Brandsma elevated for a monster kill at 7-5 WolfPack before Riley Brinnen came up with a huge solo block to maintain the four-point edge. TRU won a marathon rally for a 13-8 lead and carried a 16-13 lead into the technical timeout. Gerard Murray brought the T-Birds within one at 19-18 and UBC kept pace late in the set until an error gave the WolfPack a set point at 24-21. TRU returned the favour with a service error of their own at 24-22 and Duncan Clark served up an ace as the home team extended the opening set. Knotted up at 24-24, Neaves cranked a kill for a set point – but TRU’s defence came up big to draw even yet again. Sam Elgert gave the visitors another set point that they converted with a block at 27-25.   

The WolfPack held a 14-11 lead in the second set before Murray and Brandsma each notched a kill, and the two teams traded blows throughout the middle of the frame. A WolfPack attack error gave UBC an 18-16 edge, but the set evened up again at 27-27 before a big ‘Birds block capped off the second set, 29-27.

The Thunderbirds came out strong in the third set with a 9-3 lead that Neaves extended to 11-4. Dowhaniuk maintained the seven-point advantage with a kill at 13-6, and UBC went up 21-12 with a Tyson Smith kill before taking the set 25-13.

?? MVB | @ubcmvb takes a convincing third set 25-13 to lead @GoTRUWolfPack 2-1! #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/5KtrLwnkZl

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) January 15, 2022

Dowhaniuk broke an 11-11 tie with a kill in the fourth set and Flowerday broke the 15-15 tie with a kill to take TRU into the break up one. A WolfPack block made it 21-20 and an emphatic kill by Flowerday gave the visitors a 23-20 cushion. UBC battled back and extended the set at 24-23 TRU – but it wasn’t enough as the WolfPack captured the set 25-23 on a Flowerday kill.  

The fifth set was equally tight as the teams switched sides with UBC up 8-7, and a Neaves ace lifted the T-Birds to an 11-9 lead. Dowhaniuk crushed a kill for a 13-10 edge, but Napolitano kept TRU within two and a UBC error kept the set tight at 13-12. Another WolfPack error gave the ‘Birds a match point, and the contest continued with an attack error by the ‘Birds before Brandsma wrapped up the victory with a kill at 15-13.

UBC and TRU will close out their first series of 2022 on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. (PST) inside War Memorial Gym. The game can be streamed live on Canada West TV, with free tickets available online.