Thunderbirds slam volleyball V-Reds
Exhibition | East vs. West rematch tonight at 7:30
After finishing off last season on a high by winning the AUS men's volleyball championship, the University of New Brunswick Varsity Reds were brought back down to earth Tuesday night.
The UBC Thunderbirds of Vancouver rocked the V-Reds 3-0 in exhibition play at the Richard J. Currie Center. The rematch goes there tonight at 7:30 p.m.
Set scores were 25-8, 26-24, 25-18.
UBC opened up a 3-0 lead in the first set before UNB's first point. The Thunderbirds would score three more before the Varsity Reds' second point.
"Offensively we were almost non-existent tonight," said UNB head coach Dan McMorran. "I thought we passed fairly well most of the night and when we were passing well we were predictable. When we didn't pass well not only were we predictable, but...our setting struggled.
"It wasn't just our setting. We had some attackers who also need to do more with what they have."
The T-Birds continued their intense pressure, pushing their lead to 10-2 before the next UNB point en route to a 25-8 win.
In the second set, the V-Reds brought a completely different game to the floor. Tied 5-5 early, UBC went on a five-point run to go up 13-8.
UNB fought back to tie it 23-all and let 24-23 before the Thunderbirds scored three straight points to take the set, 26-24.
"We knew this was going to happen," McMorran said. "We brought in Trinity last year and we played better against Trinity the very first match of the season.
"But this is a new facility and we were kind of getting that under our belt, and with some different guys and some different lineups."
In the third set, UNB was able to hang with UBC to the midway point. But the V-Reds' predictable offence and UBC's overwhelming presence at the net enabled the Thunderbirds to pull away, 25-18.
Robert Bennett led UBC with nine kills. Julio Fernandez led the Reds with 13 kills while Jonathan Tower added nine.
With Stephane Fontaine out until at least Christmas time with a broken arm, Andrew Costa will play a bigger role in the setting position for the first half of the season.
McMorran believes it will be better for the team in the long run, while Costa feels no added pressure with the majority of playing time going to him.
"The backup hands we have now are coming and probably not ready at this stage," McMorran said. "I think it is a win situation for us right now with Costa in this role because it makes us stronger if he can get a bunch of matches under his belt, which in the first half he will. I know he'll become a better setter as a result of it and we'll become a better team because of it."
"There is more weight maybe," said Costa. "My teammates don't put that on me and I don't put it on myself, my coaches don't either. I go hard in practice and Dan doesn't expect anything less from me just because Stephane is injured.
"I think that we're going to build from this and it's just a learning experience and growing pain."
Although the result was not what McMorran wanted, he wasn't surprised.
"To be quite honest, as predictable as our offence was, I was probably predicting that outcome here tonight," he said. "Just being in the Currie centre and our first match of the year. I guess that's why we're doing what we're doing right now, having some exhibition matches.
"Hopefully we'll be much sharper (tonight)."
The UNB women's team will be holding their invitational tournament Friday through Sunday at the Currie centre.
The V-Reds open against St. Francis Xavier at 9 p.m. Friday. Acadia, Universite de Moncton and RMC are also competing. The final is set for 2 p.m. Sunday.