VANCOUVER - The No. 6 UBC Thunderbirds have won three of four to start the season, and have a good opportunity to pick up two more this weekend as the struggling Saskatchewan Huskies come to town. However, four of Saskatchewan's five losses have come against the top two teams in the CIS (Alberta and Trinity Western), so the T-Birds have to be ready for anything when they square off with the Huskies on Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. at War Memorial Gym.
No. 6 UBC Thunderbirds
2011 conference record: 3-1 (4th)
2011 CIS ranking: 6
Last week: bye
Streak: 1 win
The T-Birds rank second in the conference in opponent hitting percentage early in the season thanks to strong blocking and a great job by
Ian Perry carrying the torch at libero for the departed
Blair Bann. Perry leads the conference so far with 3.64 digs per game, and
Yari Kozel is heading up the effort at the net with 1.43 blocks per game.
Kozel was also a force offensively against UBCO with 15 kills on just 28 attacks in the two matches. His .562 hitting percentage in the loss made him the only T-Bird to hit better than .115 in that match.
Outside hitter
Noah Derksen is coming off his best game so far as a T-Bird with eight kills on efficient hitting, and senior
Chris Klassen took over starting setter duties from rookie
Milan Nikic to guide the team to its third win.
The extra week off to prepare for the Huskies should help the team and its many new faces continue to gel together and, perhaps even more importantly, get healthy. UBC has been without starting middles
Cary Brett and
Joe Cordonier, as well as last year's kills leader
Demijan Savija, for all four games so far.
Saskatchewan Huskies
2011 conference record: 1-5 (tied 8th)
2011 CIS ranking: -
Last week: lost to Alberta 3-2, 3-2
Streak: 2 losses
A record like 1-5 really doesn't tell you much about the Huskies, considering they have played two-thirds of their games against the two best teams in the country. And a closer look at those games actually suggests the Huskies might be a fairly dangerous squad, despite the five losses.
In their season-opening series against CIS No. 1 Trinity Western, the Huskies went to five sets in the first match, eventually losing 17-15 in the fifth, and four sets in the second match. After a split with Regina, the Huskies then took CIS No. 2 Alberta to five sets in both of their matches last week.
The T-Birds can empathize with losing five-setters to top-flight teams, having found themselves in that position many times last year. But volleyball isn't like horseshoes, and close doesn't count for anything in the Canada West, so the Huskies will be desperate for wins this weekend to climb out of their early season hole.
Matthew Busse leads the team with 3.30 kills per game, while Bryan Fraser and Braden McLean both average just over two. Setter Chris Gilbert has had a strong start to his season, averaging around 10 assists per game.
