Stu Walters / UBC Thunderbirds

VANCOUVER - The No.2 UBC Thunderbirds got past the No.7 Manitoba Bisons in Game 1 of their best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series 3-1 (25-20, 25-22, 15-25, 25-23) on Thursday night at War Memorial Gym.

After the Thunderbirds briefly looked out of sync in dropping the third set 25-15 they could go nowhere but up in the final frame and they responded by jumping out to a 7-2 lead. The Bisons would stay true to form though in not going away quietly in battling back within one at 10-9 before fourth-year setter Byron Keturakis and first-year middle Fynn McCarthy delivered back to back kills to make it 13-9 and forcing a Manitoba timeout. The visitors would keep it close thanks to Scott Vercaigne adding four of his game high 21 kills on the evening to pull within two at 17-15 and causing a UBC timeout in the process. The hosts wouldn't look back the rest of the way with help from McCarthy chipping in with one of his team high three aces followed by fifth-year left side Irvan Brar stepping up with back to back points and the final two of his team high 14 kills to secure match point at 25-23.

The first set saw the 'Birds enjoy an early 9-5 advantage after fifth-year left side Keith West's lone kill of the frame and first of 10 on the night caused Bisons long-time head coach Garth Pischke to call his first timeout. The T-Birds would then receive service aces from Brar, Keturakis and Joel Regehr to help open up a 20-13 lead and seemingly take full control however the Bisons would battle back, climbing to within three points at 23-20 thanks in large part to Vercaigne's set high six kills and one service ace. UBC wouldn't let anymore doubt creep in with Regehr delivering one of his two emphatic kills leading to set point ahead of the Bison's sending their serve long to drop the opener 25-20. The 'Birds finished with an impressive team hitting percentage of .500 thanks to 13 kills on 24 total attacks, while the Bisons weren't far behind with a hitting percentage of .400.

The T-Birds got out to a 13-10 lead in the second set before Manitoba called a time out which spurred a brief turnaround for the visitors who enjoyed a 16-15 lead at the technical timeout. That's when Brar would take over the proceedings with four kills the rest of the way, starting with a back-row blast to tie it at 18-18, followed by back to back put downs making it 23-20. A demonstrative Jordan Deshane kill would push it to set point for the hosts before Brar struck again with the final of his set high seven kills to secure a 25-22 win.

UBC wasn't as efficient in the third set as they managed just a .071 team hitting percentage while the Bisons powered themselves to leads of 13-8 and 21-14 after a big Brendan Warren block for the visitors. The T-Birds would call timeouts at both score lines but were unable to generate much of a spark as Bisons setter Jack Mandryk's first of two service aces on the night brought it to set point before yet another Vercaigne kill sealed the set 25-15 for Manitoba.

McCarthy tallied the second most kills for UBC while adding three aces while Keturakis finished with seven kills and two aces. For the Bisons it was Vercaigne not only leading the way with an impressive 21 kills but also a game high four aces while Adam DeJonckeere chipped in with six kills and three aces.

Thunderbirds captain Irvan Brar thought he and his teammates were able to set the early tone.

"I think we won the serving and passing battle in the first two sets and especially in that third set we missed quite a bit of serves," said Brar. "We also weren't passing to well so it gave Manitoba some confidence so they took the third and played well in the fourth but I think as long as we serve and pass the ball well we're going to have a good time."

T-Birds head coach Kerry MacDonald was also pleased with his teams start.

"I thought we started the match really well with serving an passing and I thought they were a little nervous from the service line and didn't serve very aggressively," MacDonald continued. "As the match went on though we started seeing what they are capable of and they served a lot better which caused us a little trouble especially in sets three and four."

Game two of the series is set for Friday night at 8 p.m. PT and if a third game is necessary it will take place on Saturday, also at 8 p.m. PT at War Memorial Gym.

PHOTO: Bob Frid / UBC Thunderbirds