VANCOUVER - The fifth-ranked Thunderbirds will be in tough against No. 2 Manitoba this weekend at War Memorial Gym. With important playoff positioning on the line, the teams will clash on Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 7 p.m.
Both games will be streamed live on
CanadaWest.tv
GAME TIMES
Fri., Jan. 20 - No. 2 Manitoba at No. 5 UBC (8 p.m. at War Memorial Gymnasium, Vancouver)
Sat., Jan. 21 - No. 2 Manitoba at No. 5 UBC (7 p.m. at War Memorial Gymnasium, Vancouver)
No. 5 UBC Thunderbirds
2011-12 conference record: 8-4 (4th)
2011-12 CIS ranking: 5
Last week: beat Thompson Rivers 3-0, lost 1-3
Streak: 1 loss
Considering the number of key contributors the T-Birds have been without for some, and in some cases all, of the season, the fact that at 8-4 the T-Birds have already surpassed last year's win total is impressive, and with a playoff spot all but locked up, they are just trying to grab the highest seed they can and give themselves a good shot to make a deep postseason run and get a spot in the CIS tournament.
But despite their success, last week's split with Thompson Rivers was certainly a disappointment for this group, and one that could end up costing them in the standings, which are tightly packed at the top. UBC is tied for third but just two games separate them from seventh place.
They also have a very tough schedule ahead, with undefeated TWU and playoff contenders Brandon and Winnipeg still ahead, so wins will be even tougher to come by from now on.
UBC has been solid defensively all year and continued that against Thompson Rivers last week. They are holding opponents under .200 hitting for the year and have put up some big blocking numbers. In fact, UBC is second only to Manitoba in blocking this year, but head coach
Richard Schick wanted to see more from his middles offensively last week.
Cary Brett and
Yari Kozel have both been having great blocking seasons but neither has been a major offensive producer, and
Joe Cordonier has been sidelined with injury for most of the season, putting a lot of pressure on the outside hitters to shoulder the load offensively.
David Zeyha,
Robert Bennett and
Jarrid Ireland do most of the work on the outside, averaging more than two thirds of the teams kills between them.
No. 2 Manitoba Bisons
2011-12 conference record: 11-1 (2nd)
2011-12 CIS ranking: 2
Last week: beat Regina 3-1, 3-0
Streak: 2 wins
The Bisons have three games between themselves and the third place T-Birds, and are just one game off first place Trinity Western's pace, so this is a key series for them both to grow the gap between themselves and the rest of the playoff contenders, and to keep their hopes of a first place finish alive.
They have the top-ranked defence by opponent hitting percentage at just .153, and are the only Canada West team averaging more than three blocks per set. Carson Kauenhowen and Joseph Brooks are third and fourth in the conference with 1.35 and 1.28 blocks per game, but like the T-Birds, the Bisons don't get a ton of offence out of their middles, as the pair only averages about two kills combined per game.
But when you have senior hitters Dane Pischke on the right side and Chris Voth on the left, you don't need to worry about finding much offence up the middle. Pischke is having an incredible year offensively, averaging 3.94 kills per game on .315 hitting, while Voth is also putting up big numbers with 3.40 kills per game.
Sophomore setter Chris Komishon has been a solid two-way player for the Bisons, averaging more than 10 assists per game while also contributing with over a block per game defensively.
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