T-Birds takedown WolfPack in straight sets for fifth straight win

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds improved to 5-0 after a three-set (25-21, 25-16, 25-18) win over the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack Friday night, in the first of a two-game weekend series at War Memorial Gym. After early service play struggles, the resilient T-Birds managed to turn things around and finish with 12 aces.

“Just to focus on patience with the serve,” said UBC head coach Mike Hawkins on his message to his team during an early first-set timeout. “We had missed quite a few to start the first set, they were all really good misses, guys missing the baseline by a meter and that happens. It’s either going to bite or not. But we knew that the service pressure in the end was going to break them down and, in the end, we had 12 aces to 21 misses and we’ll take that ratio all day, any day. Even with seven misses per set, all direct points of serve are pretty significant, and then we stepped up in the blocks department so our serve and block defence was massive tonight.”

The ‘Birds were led by Dawson Pratt, who finished the game with 10 kills, four digs, and an impressive .643 hit percentage. Gavin Moes added eight kills and three blocks, while Alex Emery contributed eight kills of his own, to go along with three aces and three blocks.

The WolfPack were led by third-year outside, Alex Howard, who finished the game with 12 kills and five digs.

TRU got off to a strong start, with the pair of Britain Ward and Alex Howard aiding the visitors to an early 5-2 lead, however Pratt responded with back-to-back kills to pull UBC within two points.

The T-Birds then took advantage of back-to-back net violations committed by the WolfPack, allowing the home team to go in front, 17-14. Moes would help the ‘Birds secure the set with a four-point edge thanks to consecutive kills, concluding it at 25-21.

The second set was a different story. The T-Birds delivered three quick aces to jump in front, but the ‘Pack kept pace with help from Howard, who secured consecutive kills at the net midway through the second stanza to keep things deadlocked at 11 apiece.

The Thunderbirds’ serve game would steadily improve, and with pressure, they continued their hot streak. Pratt and Emery put their hands on every ball, collecting five straight kills before they secured the second set, 25-17.

In the third frame, the Thunderbirds continued to ride the momentum from the serve line, setting the tone with five aces as a team. The combination of Moes and Pratt helped propel the blue and gold to control the proceedings and complete the sweep thanks to a 25-18 decision.

“Really pleased, even with their record, we knew that TRU has a lot of quality,” continued Hawkins on his team’s performance. “They’ve played two really tough opponents to start the season, so we knew they’d be desperate for a result tonight. Anytime you play this team, they’re really gritty, they put you in uncomfortable situations, and I thought they did that all night. But credit to our guys, we were preaching patience and really simple UBC volleyball. We were close with them in the middle of sets, and then we had good runs of quality serving or really good block defence to break the set open so I’m really pumped for the guys being patient tonight.”

The T-Birds and WolfPack will face each other again on Saturday, Nov. 7 at 4:00 p.m. at the historic War Memorial Gymnasium.