VANCOUVER - The CIS No. 4 UBC Thunderbirds are looking to defend home court and punch their tickets to the Canada West Final Four in their best-of-three quarterfinal series this week against the No. 10 Brandon Bobcats.
The teams will play Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. at War Memorial Gymnasium. A third match, if necessary, will be at 2 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
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The T-Birds are coming off a nice playoff primer against the No. 3 Alberta Golden Bears, where UBC split with Alberta on the road to secure the second seed and the most favourable match up for the first round of playoffs. Their reward for that performance is home court this week, and a date with the 10-12 Bobcats, who backed into the playoffs by getting swept 3-0 by Calgary, sending them back to a three-way tie for the final spot. They earned it by virtue of their superior sets won-lost ratio.
UBC and Brandon clashed in Vancouver less than a month ago, with the T-Birds earning 3-0 and 3-1 victories on the strength of their potent offence, led by
Ben Chow. He had 34 kills over the seven-set series, and the 'Birds hit over .280 as a team.
Chow has been a crucial part of UBC's finely tuned offensive machine this year, finishing tied for fifth in the conference with 3.72 kills per set. He also hit .308, displaying an impressive combination of high-volume production and efficiency. The only two games he missed this season were against 4-18 UBC Okanagan, both of which the T-Birds lost.
As important a cog as Chow has been however, the man who drives that machine is setter
Milan Nikic. UBC led the conference in assists and kills this year, and finished second in team hitting percentage, which are all credits to the stellar season Nikic has had. He finished second individually with 10.55 assists per set, displaying elite ball distribution choice and accuracy.
But his real value comes through in the multitude of ways he can impact a game. Nikic also led the league in service aces, averaging about half an ace per set, and he's been deadly with the setter dump, converting more than half his attacks on the season. He can be a difference-maker on defence too, where he averages just under two digs per set and 0.67 blocks per set.
When Nikic can't get the ball to Chow or his other dangerous outside hitting partner,
Quentin Schmidt, the big man usually finishes things off. That would be 6-foot-10 middle blocker
Alex Russell, who finished second in the conference with a .450 hitting percentage. And he's certainly not an afterthought in the offence, either. He's third on the team with 2.50 kills per set, and that number has been steadily climbing as the season rolls along. The efficiency and reliability he's brought to the attack is a big reason the T-Birds are in this position as the two-seed right now, not to mention the range he brings up the middle defensively.
And we can't talk about key members of this team without mentioning the smallest T-Bird with probably the biggest on-court presence. Libero
Ian Perry is a highly versatile asset. He's leading the team with 2.66 digs per set, but his past experience as a setter also shines through. He averages about four assists per set, and has the ability to fill in as a full-time setter if the need arises. He's also a vocal and emotional leader for the 'Birds as one of the five seniors and the longest-tenured UBC starter.
As for the Bobcats, the talent level is certainly playoff-calibre, but the consistency has been lacking this year. Those two games they lost to UBC last month were part of a five-game losing skid that landed the Bobcats in the playoff fringe territory they currently find themselves in.
They broke that slump with a win in the game two of their series with Winnipeg three weeks ago, and looked to be regaining some momentum when they followed that up with a 3-0 win over No. 1 Trinity Western to hand the Spartans only their second loss of the season. But they went on to lose to those Spartans in game two, and then split against the mediocre Calgary Dinos last week to squeak into the playoffs.
Because of the up-and-down course of their season, the team stats don't tell a very accurate story of the Bobcats this year. They have plenty of dominant wins, including some against good competition like Trinity Western, but they also have a whole lot of clunkers on their resume for a legitimate contender, and those have really dragged down their numbers.
Fifth-year middle blocker Dan Boutwell will be the key to the series for the Bobcats. His experience and defensive skill could give Brandon the edge in those areas at the middle position, helping to slow down UBC's deadly middle attacks. He can also contribute offensively, averaging 1.81 kills while hitting over .400.
New Zealander Sam Tuivai is the offensive centerpiece, having started every game this season and averaging 3.56 kills per set. He can also bring the velocity at the service line, but has a tendency to commit too many errors to be considered one of the top servers in the conference.
Sebastien Steigmeier is also averaging over three kills per set with even better hitting efficiency than Tuivai, and he's been coming on strong after missing a few games early in the year. He's averaging just under 20 kills in his last four matches, which works out to 5.65 kills per set for that stretch. If he and Tuivai get hot, and Boutwell can contain the T-Birds defensively, the Bobcats can give the T-Birds a much tougher test this time around.
