Scheduled Game: @British Columbia*

2

GAME RESULTS 1 2 3 4 5 T Trinity Western 25 25 19 20 12 2 British Columbia 19 20 25 25 15 3 « FINAL

3

Game Recap

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL (CANADA WEST)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012
BRITISH COLUMBIA (3) TRINITY WESTERN (2)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

UBC RALLIES TO BEAT SPARTANS IN FIVE

VANCOUVER – The No. 2 ranked and two-time defending national champion Trinity Western Spartans saw a 2-0 lead disappear Friday at the War Memorial Gym as the No. 9 UBC Thunderbirds rallied for a dramatic 3-2 (19-25, 20-25, 25-19, 25-20, 15-12) win .
 
The fifth set was up for grabs early on, with both sides fighting desperately to gain the upper hand. And it was UBC earning momentum with a big kill from middle Chris Howe and then a great setter dump from Milan Nikic to give the 'Birds a two-point lead at the technical timeout.
 
A big kill out of the middle from Alex Russell and two outside kills from Quentin Schmidt had the home crowd smelling the upset, putting UBC up 12-9, and the Spartans couldn't stand up to the pressure, committing back to back errors down the stretch that ended the match.
 
It was Trinity Western first loss to UBC in conference play since Nov. 29, 2008.

The Spartans were led by Brad Kufske (Abbotsford, B.C.) and Nick Del Bianco (Surrey, B.C.), who each had 12 kills and 12 digs. Dan Jansen Van Doorn (Langley) added nine kills and seven blocks while setter Steven Marshall (Abbotsford) had 41 assists and 10 digs.

For UBC, it was Russell and Schmidt leading the way as they each had 12 kills while Chris How had a team-high seven blocks and Ben Chow had 10 kills to go along with 12 digs. Setter Nikic had 41 assists. Libero Ian Perry had a match-high 13 digs.

“Up 2-0, we kind of stopped playing and our opponents decided to raise their level and the game swung in their direction,” said Spartans coach Ben Josephson. “It was a pretty good tilt. Neither team was great in the sets that they lost but in the fifth set it was a pretty good battle back and forth. They just made a few more plays than we did.

“We have some identity things we need to work through. Up 2-0 in someone else’s gym, you can’t lay off the gas. In fact you probably need to step on the gas in order to beat a team. I didn’t think our effort was good enough in that third set. But give UBC credit, they were good enough to beat us tonight.”

The Spartans started off strong in the first two sets as they hit .222 and .361 respectively, compared to UBC’s .000 and .081, en route to a decisive wins in each. With a kill by Jansen Van Doorn to make it 3-2 in the opening set, the Spartans grabbed the lead and never let go. In the second set, it was a different process but the same result. The T-Birds opened a 9-5 lead but TWU slowly whittled the lead down and, at 18-18, an attack error by Schmidt gave the Spartans their first lead of the set. From there, the Spartans closed out the set as they finished on what would turn out to be a 9-2 run.

But in the third set, the game’s momentum and the team’s level of efficiency flip-flopped.

In the third set the Spartans hit just .074 compared to UBC’s .179 and the T-Birds never trailed as they launched their comeback with a convincing win.

Then, with the crowd getting behind the T-Birds and an upset brewing, UBC was even more impressive in the fourth set as they had a .318 attacking percentage to the Spartans .111. The T-Birds took a 12-6 lead after an attack error by Kufske and never looked back.

The fifth set saw the playing field level and the Spartans actually hit a higher percentage, .357 to .333, but a few critical errors late cost Trinity Western the win.
 
The teams now head to Langley to finish up the home-and-home series with a match Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre. That night, the Spartans will raise their 2012 CIS championship banner.

Game Notes: TWU had a 12.5-11.0 advantage in blocks…both teams had 7 aces…TWU had 25 serving errors to UBC’s 15.

-TW-

Play-by-Play

Photo Gallery