Box Score WINNIPEG – The UBC Thunderbirds hit .354 as a team, compared to .161 for Manitoba, and the visitors had 19 kills more than the Herd, cashing in on their opportunities in system in a close battle, 3-1 (24-26, 25-21, 19-25, 14-25). The win improved UBC's record to 3-0, while Manitoba fell to 0-3.
 
Gavin Moes, Reeve Gingera and Dawson Pratt all hit at least .297 for the T-Birds, with 44 combined kills while Mason Greves had 48 assists. Manitoba got 30 combined kills from Karil Dadash Adeh and Eric Ogaranko, with ten different players seeing the floor.
 
UBC hit .286 in set one, compared to .069 for Manitoba. The hosts jumped out to a four-point lead early, including a Dadash Adeh c-ball kill, but the Thunderbirds used a balanced attacked to claw back.
 
Greves hit a no-look one-handed kill to give his side a 20-19 lead, and Gingera won a joust at the net a few points later for a 24-23 lead. A Dadash Adeh line shot smash tied the game, but UBC took the set two points later with errors costing the hosts.
 
Stellar passing from Manitoba helped them tie the match at one. Kai Boyko came off the bench to offer stability in the area, finishing with four digs and an assist. Dadash Adeh and Ogaranko combined for 11 kills in the set, including the set winner from Ogaranko off hands from the left.
 
Hitting percentage helped tell the story in sets three and four, as the visitors won both.
 
Manitoba hit just .128 in the third, and .000 in the fourth while UBC hit .395 and .360, with just four combined errors compared to 11 for the Herd.
 
Ogaranko and Dadash Adeh both had aces in the third, as Manitoba led 13-9 at one point. But the T-Birds scored nine in a row afterwards with balancing passing, capped by a Gingera kill. They didn't trail after taking a 14-13 lead, with Gingera capping the set with a cross court kill. The late set push bled into the fourth, with UBC leading throughout.
 
Both teams play again on Sunday at 2:45 pm.