VANCOUVER – In the final game of their 2019-20 regular season, the UBC Thunderbirds (17-5) dispatched the scrappy Brandon Bobcats (13-10) 3-1 (25-21, 25-22, 21-25, 26-24) to sweep the weekend series and finish in third place in Canada West. With the loss, Brandon will finish fourth in Canada West and will host a home playoff series.
UBC was led by Nick Mickelberry and his 13 kills to go with four service aces and the always-steady play of setter Zec Johnson, who finished with 25 assists.
The Bobcats were paced by outside hitter Elliot Viles and middle
Mason Metcalf, who had 10 and nine kills respectively.
In the early going, UBC was paced by the strong serving of Mickelberry, who recorded consecutive aces in the middle of the opening frame. The Thunderbirds never trailed and cruised to the 25-17 victory.
The second set saw the Bobcats jump out to a 13-7 lead, generally due to the strong play of Team Australia member, Viles. Metcalf was also a force in the frontcourt for the Bobcats, securing several points with a dizzying display of cross-court kills.
But it was the serving of Harrison Byrne that turned the tides for the Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds recorded nine straight points with Byrne at the service line to take a 16-13 lead. They never looked back and went on to win the second set 25-22. Fittingly, the set was finished by a massive block courtesy of UBC middle Jordan Deshane. The fifth year senior Deshane, finished with a very tidy stat line of 10 total blocks and four service aces. He was honoured for his UBC career before the match, and the ceremony put some fire into his teammates and coaching staff.
The Bobcats saved their best play for the third set, led once again by Viles and the inspired play of
Jens Watt. Watt actually took a yellow card midway through the set for taunting the UBC players after delivering a massive kill. His exuberance inspired the Bobcats, who took the set 25-21, prolonging the evening at War Memorial Gym.
The fourth set was a somewhat of a scramble, including six lead changes and several service errors by both teams. Danny Aspenlyder righted the ship for UBC, with a strong show of skill from the service line and some timely kills. UBC would squeak out a 26-24 victory in the set and win their home and regular season finale at War Memorial Gym.
UBC will host the Winnipeg Wesman in the opening round of the Canada West playoffs beginning with a best of three series that gets underway next Thursday, February 20th. The Brandon Bobcats will play host to the Calgary Dinos in their Canada West quarterfinal.
