Stu Walters/UBC Thunderbirds
VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds bounced back from an opening set loss to get past the MacEwan Griffins 3-1 on Saturday night at the War Memorial Gym. UBC earning a second win in as many nights over the visitors to improve to 9-1 on the season while MacEwan's record falls to 1-9.
The Griffins got out to a quick and efficient start en route to a 25-22 first set victory on the strength of Max Vriend's four kills, Jonathan Mohler's 11 assists and Jordan Peters four digs.
After falling in the first, the T-Birds responded emphatically by winning the second set by a convincing 25-13 margin. Powering the way for the 'Birds in the frame was Keith West with four of his eight kills on the night.
The third set was a little closer and it was fifth year Arts student Ivan Brar leading by example earning six of his team high 13 kills on the evening. Brar also enjoyed hammering the set clinching ace, giving the Thunderbirds a 25-18 victory.
The 'Birds took their third-straight set by a score of 25-19 and this time it was first-year Kinesiology student Fynn McCarthy ending it in style with a game clinching ace. McCarthy also picked up 5 kills on his overall stat line.
Brar who along with his team high 13 kills also added seven digs admitted post game that his team's energy wasn't where it needed to be to begin the proceedings.
"We kind of slept a bit in that first set, we didn't come out firing like we normally do but we showed a resiliency picking up our serving and passing game to show that we can come back and be consistent even if we don't play our best volleyball at the start."
Thunderbirds head coach Kerry MacDonald has a lot of respect for the opponent and said the Griffins forced his squad to be sharper.
"Honestly, I wasn't too surprised, they're a better team than they showed last night and in that first set they made us earn it, they didn't make a lot of errors and we made more than them. They made us play a lot better overall, tonight was what we expected from them."
The second-year coach was especially pleased with how his team bounced back from the opening set loss.
"I'm really happy with how we responded, it speaks to the character of our group. We're a resilient group and we like being challenged and we respond well to challenges.
UBC's Ben Chow finished with a team high nine digs while on the other side of the court it was Max Vriend leading the way with nine kills and five digs, teammate Ryan Zachary added eight kills and three digs.
Next week the Griffins host the Trinity Western Spartans while the Thunderbirds hit the road looking for a third-straight win when they face the Mount Royal Cougars at Kenyon Court in Calgary, Alberta.
PHOTO: Rich Lam, UBC Thunderbirds