The University of British Columbia Athletics

VANCOUVER - The CIS No. 3 UBC Thunderbirds, winners of six of their last seven matches, have a great opportunity to carry that momentum through to the holiday break as they wrap up their first-half schedule this weekend on the road against 0-10 Regina.

WEBCAST
 
Since losing their first two matches of the year to CIS No. 2 Trinity Western and suffering through some early injury troubles, the T-Birds have found another gear offensively to leap back into contention at the top of the Canada West standings. UBC is second in conference hitting percentage at .287, and first in kills with 13.2 per set.  The T-Birds are also a top-five serving group, averaging 1.26 aces per set.
 
Those are not small accomplishments by any stretch, especially considering the team has been without starting setter Milan Nikic for much of the season. He was injured early in their second match of the year, and did not return to his full-time duties until November 16.
 
Libero Ian Perry was excellent filling in for Nikic at setter while he was out, and both players have done an admirable job spreading the ball around and keeping defences guessing. UBC has four players averaging at least 2.35 kills per set.
 
Ben Chow leads that group with 3.47 kills on .309 hitting. Gabriel Aaron and Quentin Schmidt have both been consistent offensive contributors from the outside hitting spots as well.
 
But perhaps the biggest catalyst to UBC's attacking success, both literally and figuratively, has been 6-foot-10 third-year blocker Alex Russell. The Surrey native is averaging 2.37 kills per set on a league-leading .451 hitting percentage, giving the 'Birds a dominant offensive option around the middle of the net.
 
But despite the recent run of success, the 'Birds still have plenty of room for improvement, especially on the defensive end, where they rank second-last (ahead of only Regina) in opponent hitting percentage. The T-Birds are also last in the conference in blocking.
 
Those numbers should improve as the team returns to full health and players get situated in their natural positions once again. And there should be lots of opportunities to tune up the blocking game against Regina, who are hitting a league-low .144 as a team.
 
The Cougars sport a very one-dimensional attack, with Andrew Nelson being their only consistent threat from the outside. He averages 3.75 kills per game, but no other outside hitter for the Cougars is averaging better than 1.50 kills.
 
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