VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds didn’t disappoint in their first game at War Memorial Gym in 2024, earning a 3-0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-17) victory over the Manitoba Bisons.
The T-Birds were able to play from the front for the majority of the match, with the Bisons never holding a sizeable advantage in any set. Thunderbirds head coach Mike Hawkins was pleased with the overall performance of his team.
“I think it was important just to establish what we wanted to do in this match,” said coach Hawkins. “I think our block numbers could be a little better but across the board I thought we were stable tonight.”
Reeve Gingera was electric for UBC with 17 kills and eight digs on a .467 hitting percentage. Gavin Moes recorded 10 kills and three blocks while Mason Greves served up 30 assists with eight digs and two blocks.
After Greves landed a kill off a no-look setter’s dump to make it 7-4 early in the first, the T-Birds reeled off a 9-3 run that gave them firm control of the set. The Bisons tried to fight back but UBC, powered by Gingera’s eight kills in the set, remained in front.
Jon Lockie, in his first career start as a Thunderbird, got a kill to make it 21-17 for the hosts and UBC cruised to the end of the set from there. Moes delivered the final blow with a kill to make it 25-19.
Gingera continued his strong play in the second, with back-to-back kills to open the set. The two teams went back and forth, with UBC finally opening up a lead when Moes recorded a kill and solo block on consecutive plays to make it 14-10.
Manitoba, however, ripped off a 5-1 run of their own to knot the score at 15. The Bisons were then plagued by a series of errors, allowing the T-Birds to pull ahead. After another pair of kills from Gingera, a pipe attack from Conaire Taub gave the Thunderbirds set point at 24-21, which was finished on the next play by Moes and Kieran Robinson-Dunning combining for a big block.
MVB | @ubcmvb‘s Reeve Gingera serves, followed by a block from Gavin Moes for the winning point. The T-Birds win both the first set 25-19 and second set 25-21 against the Bisons! #GoBirdsGo
A block from Taub followed by an ace from Moes put UBC up 9-5 in the third, and the Thunderbirds continued to put the pressure on with Robinson-Dunning serving another ace to push the lead to 13-6.
Another comeback bid from the Bisons was thwarted by Gingera who put up a kill and an ace on back-to-back plays to make it 18-12. The two sides traded points from there, and after Greves landed UBC’s fourth ace of the set the T-Birds firmly pulled away to win it 25-17.
MVB | @ubcmvb wins the third set 25-17, winning three straight sets against the Bisons!
The T-Birds will be back tomorrow night at War Memorial Gym to play the second game of the weekend series.
After the match, coach Hawkins praised the play of Gingera, who finished with the match-high in kills and also tied Greves for the match-high in digs.
“I think the compliment that I can give Reeve is that even in games where he dominates, his potential is so sky-high that I really think if he just fine-tunes a couple of things he’ll be one of the most dominant players in the country,” added coach Hawkins. “If he can stay humble and keep working on the things that he has been, the sky’s the limit for that guy.”
UBC improved to 13-4 with the win, their ninth victory in a row. They will try to maintain their grip on 1st place in Canada West in a rematch with Manitoba on Saturday night. Opening serve is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. at War Memorial Gym.