Aaron Martin, UBC Thunderbirds

VANCOUVER – After surrendering the first point of the match on Thursday night, the UBC Thunderbirds (5-0) men's volleyball team led the rest of the way, as they swept the Thompson Rivers WolfPack (2-3) 3-0 in front of the fans at War Memorial Gym.

Leading to set scores of 25-17, 25-22, and 25-16 for the hosts, UBC got a dominant performance out of senior outside hitter Irvan Brar (14 kills, three aces, and two blocks), and impressive first forays into the opening lineup from fifth-year Calgary transfer Keith West and rookie middle Fynn McCarthy.

"I think the depth that we have is what sets us up, and what we need, to be a strong team in this league," said UBC head coach Kerry McDonald. "To have guys like Keith and Fynn step in and right away be able to impact the game, that's huge for us as we move towards the back half of the season."

Tim Dobbert was a standout for the visitors, notching a team-high 12 kills on 18 swings, as well as a TRU-best six digs. Joshua Mullaney tied for the game high with three service aces.

UBC jumped out to an 8-5 lead in the opening set, but kills from Charlie Bringloe and Randy Grundmann, followed by a Bringloe ace, tied things up at 8-8. The hosts went into the technical timeout up just 16-14, but pulled away late, winning seven of the last nine points.

With an average of 13 kills a set, the only blip in the Thunderbirds' game was their seven errors in the second stanza, which MacDonald credits to excellent pressure on the attack and on the serve from the WolfPack. Two of Mullaney's aces came in the second.

"They did well to get us off-balance in that set, and forced us into some mistakes," said MacDonald.

Still, the 'Birds never trailed other than an initial 1-0 deficit, opening up as much as a five-point lead on the strength of their defensive coverage and a few timely kills. The WolfPack would close it down to two points, 24-22, on UBC attack error before Mat Guidi sealed the set for the Blue and Gold with a bullet strike.

West had three of his six kills within the final set, as the 'Birds held a double-digit lead at one point before cruising to the 25-16 decision. Racking up 14 kills while holding the WolfPack to just six in the set, UBC was hyper-efficient in the final frame. The final kill went to Brar, as the fifth-year outside hitter capped off some excellent passing with a shot that proved too difficult for the WolfPack to handle.

The 'Birds and WolfPack will square off for an encore at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow evening, once again taking centre stage in War Memorial Gym.

PHOTO: Wilson Wong/UBC Thunderbirds