Calgary, AB- On Friday afternoon on Kenyon Court the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds improved to 5-4 on the season, taking down the 4-5 Mount Royal Cougars in four sets (26-24, 25-20, 14-25, 25-21).

Mat Guidi made 13 kills for the Thunderbirds while Andrew McWilliam and Tyler Schmidt led the Cougars with 14 kills each in a losing effort.

Byron Keturakis made a Youtube worthy save early in the first set for the Thunderbirds. Off a deflection, the ball appeared to be headed into the stands when the setter ran into the first row to make a pass to a teammate. Unfortunately for Keturakis, this particular point didn't go the Thunderbirds way as a teammates kill attempt sailed wide, giving the Cougars an early point.  

The Thunderbirds rallied behind Keturakis' effort and jumped out to a 12-7 first set lead. While the Thunderbirds made big time blocks on a few Andrew McWilliam spike attempts, the Cougars helped the Thunderbirds cause with some shaky serving early.  

The Cougars managed to work their way back into the game, getting the better of the Thunderbirds on a few long tiring rallies, equalizing the game at 24. 

After a McWilliam tip attempt found the net, Keturakis continued his strong first set effort. With an awe-inspiring vertical leap the sophomore denied a Cougars' spike attempt, as his team took the first set 26-24. 

The talents of the Cougars' Tyler Schmidt and the Thunderbirds Mat Guidi were on display in a hard hitting second set. While neither team was able to sustain a lead for most of the set, two Guidi kills in a row gave the Thunderbirds a 23-20 lead forcing a Mount Royal timeout. 

The Thunderbirds came out of the timeout strong, winning another two points en-route to a 25-20 set win. 

The Cougars started the third set hot. Lucas King and Andrew McWilliam torched the Thunderbirds early and often with ferocious kills, flying out to an 18-8 lead. 

Looking like a different team entirely, the Cougars took the third set 25-14, pulling within one game of the Thunderbirds. 

But the night belonged to the Thunderbirds. Reminiscent of the second set, the fourth saw both teams exchange points back and fourth. After being tied at 16, the Thunderbirds began to pull away. The Cougars missed on a two kill attempts in a row and sent a serve into the net, giving the Thunderbirds a 25-21 set win, taking the match 3-1. 

The Mount Royal Cougars will attempt to get back to .500 tomorrow evening, as the two squads will meet again at 5 P.M. on Kenyon Court.