T-Birds rebound to down Cougars 3-1 and split weekend series

VANCOUVER – the young and hungry UBC Thunderbirds bounced back from their tough loss the previous night to earn an emphatic 3-1 home win (23-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-19) over a much more experienced Mount Royal Cougars side.
 
Reeve Gingera led the way once again for UBC with 19 kills and 8 digs while Conaire Taub was extremely efficient with 14 kills and no attack errors. Mason Greves continued his strong start to the season with 41 assists and 11 digs, both match-highs.

 
“I thought there were moments yesterday where we were undisciplined,” said UBC head coach Mike Hawkins. “That was our challenge today: could we follow our gameplan and follow our adjustments. Kudos to Mount Royal, they pushed and pushed, but our guys pulled through.”
 
Chris Byam led the Cougars in kills with 22 while Jacob Van Geel had a strong all-around performance for the visitors with 15 kills, 4 assists, 4 blocks and a pair of aces.
 
It was Byam who came out on fire, notching 10 of his kills in the first set. UBC fought back from a late deficit and staved off MRU’s first set point, but Byam ended the comeback hopes with an emphatic kill to take it 25-23.

The second set was close throughout, leading to a tie at 18-18. From there, however, UBC pulled away through kills from both Gavin Moes and Conaire Taub followed by an ace from Moes. Taub later got the final kill to make it a 25-20 final score.
 
The third set was even closer, with 14 ties and 7 lead changes. The final lead change came when Moes and James Vincett combined for back-to-back big blocks to give UBC a 23-21 advantage. A few plays later Moes ended it at 25-23 with one of his 11 kills on the night.
 
After a weekend of constantly close sets, the Thunderbirds finally created real separation in the fourth when Gingera reeled off three straight kills to put UBC up 19-14. That was part of an 8-3 run that put the T-Birds up 24-16, and it fittingly was Gingera who scored the final point of the night to finish off the Cougars 25-19.
 

MVB | @ubcmvb rebounded for a 3-1 victory over @MRUMVB Saturday evening to split the weekend series at War Memorial Gym.

2nd-year outside hitter Conaire Taub made his presence felt with 14 kills, 2 aces & 6 digs & spoke to why he’s excited about the ‘Birds young squad.

: pic.twitter.com/zbWjCQhodz

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) October 22, 2023

UBC as a team had the edge in kill count 53-45 and also had 41 digs compared to just 28 for the Cougars. The Thunderbirds hit an efficient .318 including .348 in the final set.
 
Following this victory UBC will enjoy their bye week before traveling to Winnipeg to take on the Wesmen on November 3^rd and 4^th. The Thunderbirds next play at home on November 17^th against the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack.