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VANCOUVER \u2013 The theme of Friday night? Drama. All of it.
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\nThe Thunderbirds and Dinos put forth an instant classic inside War Memorial Gym, fighting tooth and nail all night in a match that featured three sets decided by just two points, including one where both teams reached 30. In the end, UBC prevailed 3-1 (26-28, 25-23, 25-18, 32-30), taking the second and final win of the Canada West Quarterfinal series.
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\nThe offences for both teams were firing throughout the night, with the two sides combining for 124 kills. For the T-Birds, Dawson Pratt led the way with a season-high 18 along with 11 digs, while Reeve Gingera landed 17 kills and Alex Borowski 13. Mason Greves tallied a season-best 50 assists along with nine digs and three kills.
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\nMatthew Brown<\/a> ended up just one short of his season-high for assists with 47 for the Dinos, also finishing with five digs and four blocks. Cole Czepuryk<\/a>, Erik Godwin<\/a> and Will Kay<\/a> had 17, 16 and 15 kills, respectively, with Godwin also grabbing a match-high 14 digs.
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\nNeeding to shake off a straight sets loss the previous night to open the series, the Dinos came out strong in the first. A 7-1 run capped by a Luke Nodwell<\/a> kill gave them the lead at 17-15, and they never trailed in the set after that despite some strong UBC pressure.
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\nForced past the 25-point barrier when Gingera staved off a Calgary set point with a kill of his own, the Dinos proceeded to earn three consecutive set points. Finally, Czepuryk ended things with a solo block, giving his team the 1-0 set advantage.
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\nThe second followed a similar pattern, with the score tight until a burst by one team in the middle portion of the frame. This time it was from UBC, as kills from Gingera and Alex Emery helped power a 6-2 run to give their team a multi-point advantage.
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\nDespite a furious rally from the Dinos late, the ‘Birds scored four of the final five points to end the set at 25-23 following an ace from Greves, his team’s first of the match.
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\nThe third was the only set that didn’t feature an edge-of-your-seat ending, as the Thunderbirds took control as the action went on and ended up with a relatively comfortable win at 25-18 to go up 2-1 in set count. Borowski really found his stride in this one with five kills, while Kieran Robinson-Dunning got the final point with a nice block.
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\nThe two teams got right back to the dramatics in the fourth, as for the third time in the night they found themselves tied up at 23-23. A Godwin kill teed up set point for the Dinos, who had the chance to push the match to the fifth, but Gingera responded with another kill to fight it off.
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\nThat began a string of three straight set points for the Dinos, but the home team showed why they were the No. 1 team in Canada West this season in fighting back. Kills from Pratt and Gingera put UBC up 27-26 and gave the ‘Birds match point, but they also couldn’t finish it off. Nor could they score either of their next two match points.
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\nThe Dinos had one final opportunity when they went up 30-29, but a Dinos’ service error was then followed by a Pratt kill and emphatic block from the duo of Greves and Robinson-Dunning to take the match and series.
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\nWith the win, the Thunderbirds advance to the Canada West Final Four, which will be held inside War Memorial Gym.\u00a0
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