T-Birds drop five set thriller in Saskatchewan

SASKATOON – The UBC Thunderbirds’ valiant comeback was cut short by the Saskatchewan Huskies, who outlasted the visitors 3-2 (26-24, 25-21, 22-25, 25-27, 15-6) in a five set marathon on Friday night. The loss places the T-Birds at 14-7 on the Canada West season, while the Huskies improve to 15-6.
 
Second-year outside hitter Reeve Gingera led UBC with 16 kills, three aces, and 10 digs. Gavin Moes and Conaire Taub added 15 and 10 kills, respectively, in the hard-fought loss.

 
The second set saw the Huskies earn three consecutive points to build a lead at 13-9. While the ‘Birds held the gap from increasing with kills from Mason Greves, Moes, and Kieran Robinson-Dunning, they were unable to catch up to the home side. A Morrow kill ended the set at 25-21 to give the Huskies a 2-0 advantage.
 
Neither team was able to create a lead in the third set until an impressive Morrow kill swayed the momentum back in favor of the Huskies, but back-to-back Taub attacks kept UBC in the running. At the end of the frame, a Moes kill awarded the ‘Birds the first three-point lead of the set at 24-21. Unwilling to end the match in three sets, Moes fired another hit from the left side for a 25-22 UBC set.

 
The fourth set showed more of the same neck-and-neck action. UBC was the first to reach set point at 24-23, forcing the Huskies into a late-set timeout. The Huskies managed to save two set points before falling at 27-25 from a Robinson-Dunning kill set up by Greves.
 
The Huskies were the first to eight points in the final set, leading the visitors 8-3. After the technical switch, a Moes kill gave UBC hope for an away victory, but in the end, it was the Huskies that took the fifth set 15-6, ending the T-Birds comeback.
 
The T-Birds and Huskies get back at it on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. PT in Saskatoon to complete the weekend series.