VANCOUVER - The Thunderbirds closed out the first half of the season as one of the hottest teams in the conference, and this weekend they will look to keep rolling in the new year as they resume regular season play at home against Winnipeg. Both men's volleyball games will be streamed with live statistics at
CanadaWest.TV.
GAME TIMES (both games at War Memorial Gymnasium, Vancouver)
Friday, Jan. 11
8 p.m. - Winnipeg at No. 6 UBC
Saturday, Jan. 12
7 p.m. - Winnipeg at No. 6 UBC
No. 6 UBC Thunderbirds (8-4)
The Thunderbirds had a great first half by any measure, and it looks even better considering the difficulty of their schedule, and the relative youth of their key contributors. At 8-4, they sit comfortably in playoff position in the Canada West standings with a favourable schedule to finish off the regular season, and all their players with at least eight starts this season are either second or third-year players.
UBC currently has a seven-game conference win streak dating back to Nov. 8, and they stayed sharp over the break too by winning the McDonald's International tournament in Kamloops, which included a win over No. 4 Pepperdine of the NCAA.
Jarrid Ireland (Winnipeg, MB) has come back strong after missing a couple games earlier in the season, leading the team with 3.03 kills per game. He's also made some nice contributions defensively, and ranks third on the team in blocking behind middle blockers
Alex Russell (Surrey, BC) and
Chris Howe (Salt Spring Island, BC).
Russell looks like he's going to be a solid presence in the middle for UBC for a long time. In just his second year he is among league leaders with his .343 hitting percentage, chipping in 1.70 kills per game. He is also averaging more than a block per game.
Howe is a third-year player in his first season with the 'Birds, but he's having no trouble fitting in. He is tied for second in conference blocking, averaging 1.33 per game, and has been a good offensive option behind Russell in the middle too, hitting just under .300.
Winnipeg Wesmen (6-6)
It's difficult to know what to make of a team that has split every series of the season so far. The Wesmen's record includes ugly losses to 2-10 teams like Calgary and Regina, and impressive victories over 10-2 Trinity Western and 9-3 Brandon. That has left them hanging on to the edge of playoff position in the standings with a .500 record, so the Wesmen are running out of time to decide what kind of team they are.
Their second-year setter Josh McKay is doing a nice job with the offence, averaging just a hair under 10 assists per game, good for second in Canada West. His favourite targets are rookie hitter Casey Schouten and his third-year partner on the outside, Thomas Douglas-Powell.
Schouten has a slight edge in total attacks and is averaging just under three kills per game, but Douglas-Powell has been far more efficient, hitting .236 with 3.08 kills per game.
In the middle, Brendan Black has been a big part of the Wesmen's game plan on both sides of the ball. He chips in almost two kills per game on .376 hitting, which puts him just ahead of UBC's Russell on the conference attack efficiency leaderboard.
-30-
