VANCOUVER - The Thunderbirds were forced to settle for a split against Thompson Rivers last weekend, leaving them in a four-way logjam in the Canada West men's volleyball standings at 10-6. That means there's plenty of ground to be either gained or lost as the regular season winds down, and they'll look to start taking advantage of that at home this week against UBC Okanagan.
Both games will be streamed with live statistics at
CanadaWest.tv. UBC will also be celebrating alumni weekend. A special nod to the 1982-83 CIS championship-winning team will take place during Saturday's match.
GAME TIMES (both games at War Memorial Gymnasium, Vancouver)
Friday, Jan. 25
8 p.m. - UBC Okanagan at No. 8 UBC
Saturday, Jan. 26
7 p.m. - UBC Okanagan at No. 8 UBC
No. 8 UBC Thunderbirds (10-6)
Last Week: L 3-1, W 3-1 at Thompson Rivers
The T-Birds fought hard all the way to the finish line in game one last week, including a 30-28 set loss to finish the match, but it just seemed to be the kind of match where their mistakes always happened in key moments. UBC had more blocks and a better hitting percentage than TRU, but couldn't win the crucial points of the match.
They turned that around nicely in the second match, fueled by a huge effort from the blockers.
Alex Russell led the way with nine blocks, including four solos, and
Chris Howe added four as UBC outblocked TRU 16-6. That duo sits tied for second in conference blocking with 1.31 blocks per set each.
Jarrid Ireland had another big series attacking off the outside, racking up 29 kills to bring his average up to 3.27 per set this season. But he's also made great strides defensively in his sophomore season, improving his dig and block totals significantly. He ranks third behind Russell and Howe in team blocking this year.
Fellow second-year hitter
Ben Chow has also been coming on strong lately, giving the 'Birds a multitude of solid choices for setter
Milan Nikic. Between Ireland, Chow, senior
David Zeyha and versatile sub Rob Gotch, the T-Birds have certainly kept their recent opponents on their toes defensively.
UBC Okanagan Heat (2-14)
Last Week: L 3-2, L 3-0 vs Calgary
Two weeks ago the Heat rallied behind a massive performance from fifth-year outshide hitter Riley McFarland to sweep Regina and claim their first two wins of the year. McFarland had kill totals of 26 and 30 in that series, and it seemed like they could take advantage of a soft schedule to finish the year strong and possibly even make a little noice in the playoff race.
Any hopes of that ended abruptly last week though, when they were swept by the 4-12 Calgary Dinos. McFarland went off for 24 kills again in game one but was held to only nine on .154 hitting in game two. He is a legitimately dangerous player, sitting fifth in conference kills with 3.55 per game on respectable .211 hitting, but the Heat have relied almost exclusively on him for offence this year, and it hasn't worked out.
The only other Heat player averaging more than two kills is Greg Niemantsverdriet, but his low hitting percentage has meant that the success of the team depends on those explosive performances from McFarland, and those are hard to come by against playoff-calibre teams like the one they will square off against this weekend.
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