VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (6-3) maintained their perfect record on home court this season by sweeping away the MacEwan Griffins (0-9) in straight sets (25-14, 25-20, 25-8) on Friday evening at War Memorial Gym.
The Griffins were much scrappier than the final score line would suggest, hanging with the ‘Birds for much of the first two sets. UBC and MacEwan were tied 10-10 in each of the first two frames and the second was not decided until a late four-point run for the home side.
The T-Birds picked up their fourth straight victory, and sixth in their last seven matches, behind a balanced effort and another masterclass in setting by Mason Greves. Greves moved into 13th on the all-time Canada West assist list with 36 helpers in just three sets, pushing his career regular season total to 2,728.
“I think our performance came down to really good decision making,” reflected UBC head coach Mike Hawkins. “I thought Mason did a good job starting our offence, like he always does. I thought our outsides, Reeve, Gavin and Dawson, did a good job of being aggressive with their strengths when given the opportunity and then making the smart plays when the ball wasn’t there or MacEwan set up a good block.”
With the match appearing well in hand early in the third set, some younger T-Birds had a chance to gain valuable in-game experience and earn praise from their head coach.
“There are a lot of unsung heroes on our team who don’t get the opportunity to shine on the weekends, so it was good to be able to give those guys some shine,” noted Hawkins. “First-years Alex Borowski and Nik Reimer have both been excelling all year at doing their job, whether its in practice or tonight coming into a match.
“Calvin Hsu has been an absolutely dog for us all year. He’s a guy who’s improved an enormous amount from his first year, last year. I’m glad he was able to get on the floor tonight as well.”
For MacEwan, Mitchell Croft was the offensive catalyst, racking up a match-high 14 kills. Daylan Andison chipped in 10 digs, an ace and a block to lead the Griffins in all three categories.
The two teams play again on Saturday in what will be the final match of 2024 for both sides. It’s set to be the first half of a double header with the schools’ womens teams, starting at 4:00 p.m. (PT) at War Memorial Gym.