HONOLULU - Matt LeBourdais and Andrew Bonner each slammed down 13 kills apiece as British Columbia defeated Hawai`i in four sets tonight 30-25, 22-30, 30-16 and 30-24 in front of 1,629 fans at the Stan Sheriff Center.

The Thunderbirds hit a whopping .330 collectively on the night with three attackers recording double digit kill performances. LeBourdais and Bonner each had 13, while Christoph Eichbaum added 12. Setter Jared Krause dished out 38 assists, while Krause and Bonner each posted 11 digs.

Hawai`i was without the services of starting outside hitters Lauri Hakala and Jake Schkud as both were ailing from the flu bug that hit the team. Head coach Mike Wilton also has the flu and Advertiser reporter Stephen Tsai left during the match coming down with the symptoms.

Mark Ribeiro got the starting nod on the outside and showed signs of breaking through as he collected 11 kills. Steven Grgas, who did not play the first night, led the Warriors with 14 kills. Setter Brian Beckwith handed out a match-high 45 assists, while Eric Kalima dug nine attacks.

UH's offense hit .306 and .294 the first two sets, but BC's block and tough serves did them in the final two sets. The Warriors hit negative .029 (-.029) in the third and only .125 in the fourth. For the match, UH mustered only a .174 hitting percentage.

Hawai`i heads to UC Irvine a week from tonight to open the regular and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation seasons. The Anteaters are ranked No. 1 in the preseason polls. The matches are slated for Jan. 12 (7:00 p.m.) and Jan. 13 (7:30 p.m.) and will be broadcast live on the radio by ESPN 1420 AM.

-UH-