The University of British Columbia Athletics

The nucleus of the powerful 1975-76 team was first formed in 1971-72 with then Head Coach Dale Ohman and student-athletes Charlie Mueller, Merv Mosher, and Tim Frick.  In 1972-73 Keith Gallicano and Ian Gregory were key additions to the team and the following season Wolfgang Neufeld, Olli Korhonen and Jamie Campbell joined as well. Finally, in 1974-75, Gary Warner, Tom Jones, Dwane Hrechka and Walter Janzen were added under coach Ray Lepp.   

This group of athletes, collected 1 of the 4 national titles in program history and 3 of the 5 Canada West conference titles (1974, 1976, 1977). During the 1975-76 season under coach Lorne Sawula, the team was dominant both against Canadian and American opponents.  In Canada West they went undefeated with at 8-0 match record and 24-0 set record, losing only one match and 5 sets overall in tournament play.

One particular highlight was when the team defeated University of Southern California (USC) in a thrilling five-set exhibition match at UBC.  USC was ranked #2 in the NCAA for 1976 and that team formed the nucleus of USC’s 1977 NCAA Championship team.  
 
Beyond their impressive playing careers at UBC, the majority of their team have remained very active with the current UBC Men’s Volleyball Team and played a key role in maintaining the men’s volleyball program during the UBC Sports Review in 2013. Their involvement and support helped reignite the program and in 2018, TBirds men’s volleyball celebrated its first national title in 35 years.