Thunderbirds fall to WolfPack in four set thriller

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds battled hard but were unable to complete the comeback over the TRU Wolfpack, falling 3-1 (25-15, 25-20, 25-27, 34-32) at home to end with the weekend series split.
 
The T-Birds racked up a massive 55 kills as a team but were undone by their 25 service errors. The Wolfpack provided a strong presence at the net with 12.5 team blocks.
 
Reeve Gingera was electric for UBC with 25 kills and 13 digs, both career-highs. Nick Taub also had his biggest performance in his T-Birds career with nine kills and seven digs off the bench while Mason Greves notched 48 assists along with eight digs and two aces.

 
Sam Flowerday paced TRU with 19 kills and eight digs, while Rylan Ibbetson had an all-around performance with seven kills, nine digs, three blocks and three aces. Dylan VanSpankeren patrolled the defence with a season-best 16 digs.
 
The first set was all Wolfpack as the visitors went up 12-5 early on and didn’t look back from there. Back-to-back kills from Taub and Gingera cut the lead to five to give UBC a bit of life but that was as close as they got as the Wolfpack took it 25-15.
 
UBC again fell in a hole early in the second, with the lead stretching out to as many as eight points over the course of the set. The T-Birds made a push late on, with Kieran Robinson-Dunning scoring consecutive kills to make it 23-18, but TRU was able to close it out by a score of 25-20.

 
Down 2-0 in the set count, UBC came out with some fire in the third with two big blocks early on to go up 5-3. After the Wolfpack retook the lead midway through the set, the T-Birds reeled off six straight points capped by a Nicholas Johnson ace to make it 20-18 in favour of the hosts.
 
The Wolfpack again responded with a mini-run of their own, and after Gingera tied it at 24 with one of his many big kills the crowd at War Memorial Gym was treated to some extra volleyball. A few points later Gingera and James Vincett combined on a block to take the set 27-25 and keep UBC alive.
 
The fourth set was even more dramatic as UBC played from the front for the majority of the frame. The Thunderbirds went up 24-19, but the Wolfpack staved off five straight set points to again force play past the 25-point barrier.

 
Neither team could create separation from each other, with both sides squandering multiple chances to take the set. The final tie was at 32-32, before two UBC errors gave the set and match win to TRU.

The loss puts UBC’s record at 4-4 with two more weeks of play before the winter break. Next up for the T-Birds is a trip to Abbotsford to take on UFV on November 24^th and 25^th. The ‘Birds next play at home against Calgary on December 1^st and 2^nd in the final two matches of the semester.