T-Birds pack a punch in win over Mount Royal

There were not road blues for the UBC Thunderbirds on Friday night, as they took care of business against the Mount Royal Cougars in a 3-1 victory (25-23, 25-10, 21-25, 25-18). 

It was a dominant performance from the ‘Birds, who hit .379 as a team and nearly doubled the Cougars in total block count with 8.5 compared to 4.5 for the home team.

Reeve Gingera led the way with 18 kills, six digs and three blocks on a .652 hitting percentage. Kieran Robinson-Dunning hit .900 with nine kills and a match-high five blocks, while Mason Greves dished out 40 assists to go along with nine digs.

Cory Hudson recorded nine kills, two digs and two blocks for the home team, while Paul Dionne added eight kills, seven digs and three aces.

The T-Birds started the night up 5-0 off a series of errors from the Cougars, but the home team settled in from there and reeled off a run of their own to tie things up at 11. 

A kill by Gingera temporarily re-established the UBC lead, but the Cougars kept it close. The two teams went back and forth throughout the rest of the set, with neither team able to break away until late. 

Back-to-back kills from Gingera followed by a block from Dawson Pratt and Robinson-Dunning made it 21-19 for the ‘Birds, and the defensive duo combined for another block just a couple points later. The visitors maintained their slim lead from there, with Gavin Moes finishing off the set at 25-23 with a kill.

The T-Birds again started off strong in the second, with kills from Robinson-Dunning and Moes helping them out to an early 6-2 lead. After the Cougars briefly cut the lead to two the Thunderbirds caught fire, with an acrobatic kill from Pratt making it 13-7 and forcing a timeout on the MRU sideline. 

Yet another Gingera kill (already his 11th of the night) capped a 9-1 UBC run to blow the set wide open. Their offence was so hot that even Logan Greves got himself a kill – the libero punching the ball over the net on an attempted dig which nestled just in bounds on an open spot on the court. 

The Thunderbirds cruised to a 2-0 overall lead from there. Kills from Alex Emery and Moes finished things off, as UBC turned an 8-6 lead into a 25-10 set win, racking up 17 kills on a .667 hitting percentage in the process.
 

MRU came out determined in the third, not wanting to get swept on their home court. There were successive ties at four, five, six, seven, eight and nine points apiece as the two sides traded points in the early going, before the Cougars finally established a multi-point lead.

The ‘Birds fought back, and took a 14-13 lead midway through the set. Unfortunately, it was short-lived as MRU got themselves back in front and went up 21-18. They eventually closed out the set 25-21, forcing a fourth.

Shaking off their set loss, the T-Birds again came out hot in what proved to be the final frame. A couple early kills from Gingera powered a 6-3 start, and the Thunderbirds were able to hold the Cougars at arm’s length from there.

While they fought hard, MRU was unable to get over the hump with UBC leading almost wire-to-wire in the set. A block from Emery and Pratt made it 20-13 for the ‘Birds, and a series of errors from the home team put it out of reach. Fittingly, it was Gingera who ended the night with a kill at 25-18, capping a fantastic individual performance and an electric offensive performance from the team as a whole. 

Now 4-3, the Thunderbirds will aim for their second weekend sweep of the season as they face off against the Cougars again tomorrow night. That match begins at 6:00 p.m. (PT) in Calgary.