VANCOUVER – A sold-out War Memorial Gym was electric as the UBC Thunderbirds (14-6) celebrated both Pride Night and a 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 22-25, 30-28, 15-13) win over their archrivals, the Trinity Western Spartans (12-8).
The marathon match featured 45 ties and 12 lead changes over the five sets as neither team gave the other an inch throughout the night. Thunderbirds head coach Mike Hawkins praised the mentality of his young team after they pulled out the dramatic, come from behind victory.
“I thought the end of the fourth set and the majority of the fifth set we just remained composed,” said coach Hawkins. “When things got tough, we remained calm, remained stable and came out with the win.”
Reeve Gingera put up 20 kills – his highest total of the new year – along with three digs and three blocks. Gavin Moes had an all-around performance with 15 kills, four digs, three blocks and a season-high five aces, while Mason Greves recorded 46 assists and a match-high 12 digs.
Henry Rempel turned in a great performance for the Spartans with a career-high 26 kills on a .429 hitting percentage, along with five digs and two aces. Jackson Corneil also notched a career-high in kills with nine along with six blocks.
Neither team was able to create much separation early in the first set, but after a 10-10 tie the T-Birds ripped off a 6-1 run, led by a kill and block by Conaire Taub. The Spartans, however, then went on a 7-2 run of their own coming out of a timeout to tie the score at 18.
The Thunderbirds responded once again with an ace and kill on back-to-back plays by Moes, making it 21-18. TWU continued to fight, but Gingera closed out the set with a kill to make it 25-23.
The Spartans got off to a strong start in the second, but UBC again battled right back into it and retook the lead. An ace from Kieran Robinson-Dunning put the hosts up 17-13, and the T-Birds maintained the lead through to 22-20.
Unfortunately, disaster struck at that point for the’Birds, as the Spartans grabbed all of the momentum and reeled off a 5-0 run to take the set 25-22 and even up the match.
UBC briefly held the lead early in the third after a Taub kill made it 7-6, but TWU jumped out in front with a quick 4-1 burst to force a timeout. The Thunderbirds continued to fight hard throughout the rest of the set, not letting the Spartans get out in front by more than a couple points.
A late kill from Robinson-Dunning cut the lead to 22-21 in favour of the visitors, but the Spartans were able to hang on to their advantage and take the frame 25-22 for the second straight set.
Trinity Western, riding high after consecutive set wins, jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the fourth. But three kills in quick succession from Moes cut the lead to just one, before UBC eventually knotted things up midway through the set.
Neither team could pull away in the second half of the fourth, with the two teams pushing past the 25-point barrier. The Thunderbirds racked up a total of five set points before they were finally able to close it out at 30-28.
Robinson-Dunning was a force to begin the fifth set, with three kills in a row before combining with Taub on a block to make it 6-3 UBC. A kill from Taub soon after made it 9-5, before the Spartans made another run with four unanswered points to tie it.
The final stage of the match was when Gingera revealed he was saving his best for last. Back-to-back aces from the second-year outside hitter made it 14-11, and after the Spartans scored the next two it was Gingera who got the kill to end it at 15-13.
Back in the win column and remaining in the hunt for the top seed in Canada West, coach Hawkins praised the fantastic atmosphere that the fans brought to the gym on Pride Night.
“It was incredible, such a fun environment to be in,” added Hawkins. “So much energy, so much positivity, so much love in the building. It’s a pretty special night.”
Next up for the Thunderbirds is a road trip to Saskatchewan to take on the Huskies on February 9th and 10th. The T-Birds then end the regular season at home with a pair of matches against Brandon on February 16th and 17th.