VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (6-4) fought back from a two-set deficit to force a fifth set, but ultimately fell to the University of Alberta Golden Bears (7-1) 3-2 (25-23, 25-16, 24-26, 22-25, 15-13) in a thriller at War Memorial Gym.
“I was pleased with the grit that was shown, especially after the second set,” said UBC head coach Mike Hawkins. “We’ve had a couple of those sets this season where nothing seems to go well. For us to come out and start the third really well…we put the pressure back on them. Unfortunately for us, they made some plays down the stretch of the fifth and kudos to them for pulling out the win. I still think there are a few things we can clean up in terms of our patterning to make us more efficient, but it’s nice for Mason to continue building relationships with our middles. They’re two very different attackers, and I thought Mason did a good job spreading out our offence tonight.”
Matt Neaves led the T-Birds with 19 kills and 12 digs, Michael Dowhaniuk had 15 kills and 10 digs, while Gerard Murray put up a season-best 10 kills and added two blocks in the narrow loss.
Jordan Canham had a match-high 21 kills and three aces for the Golden Bears, Braedon Friesen totalled 12 kills and Isaac Heslinga tallied 10 kills with nine digs in Alberta’s seventh consecutive victory.
A close first set saw Murray even the score at 17-17 before Canham gave the visitors a 19-17 edge with a kill. UBC was called for a ball-handling violation at 22-19 Golden Bears and, although the T-Birds fought off two set points, Alberta captured the set on a T-Bird error at 25-23.
Billy Johnstone ripped a kill for a 12-5 cushion in the second set and Friesen lifted the Golden Bears to a 21-13 lead with a kill. Dowhaniuk scored from the back row with the ‘Birds down a set point but, despite a Neaves ace, Alberta claimed the second set – 25-16.
Conaire Taub tied the third set at 5-5 with a big block for the ‘Birds and Jesse Umoren got up for a block at 10-10. Down 20-18, Umoren cranked back-to-back kills to even it up once again at 20-20. Alberta earned a 23-22 advantage on a Friesen kill, but the set continued deadlocked at 24-24. A Dowhaniuk kill gave the T-Birds a second set point that they converted with a block at 26-24.
The two teams went shot-for-shot in the fourth set until rookie Nicholas Johnson came in to serve for the ‘Birds – lifting them to a late 22-19 lead with his second ace before an Alberta error gave UBC a set point and Greves forced a fifth and deciding set with a kill at 25-22.
Murray went to work in the final frame, earning his second kill of the set at 8-8 before Canham crushed a kill at 11-9 Alberta. Neaves kept UBC within two at 13-11, but Johnstone gave the Golden Bears a match point. The ‘Birds weren’t done yet, as Neaves scored a kill and an ace at 14-13, but Heslinga closed it out for the visitors at 15-13.
The Thunderbirds will now prepare to take on the undefeated Trinity Western Spartans (8-0) on Friday, November 25th at 7:45 p.m. (PT) inside War Memorial Gym before closing the home-and-home series on the road in Langley on Saturday, November 26th at 8:00 p.m. (PT).
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