VANCOUVER – The two teams with the longest current winning streaks in Canada West men's volleyball will face off this weekend in Edmonton, as the No. 5 UBC Thunderbirds take on the second-ranked Alberta Golden Bears.
 
With straight wins, UBC sits in fourth place in the Canada West with a record of 10-4. Alberta leads the league with an unblemished record – and just five sets lost – after 16 matches.
 
The first game of the weekend will start at 6:30 p.m. PT, while Saturday's rematch will begin at 4 p.m.
 
The T-Birds are two points back of fourth-place Winnipeg in the league table with two matches in hand. Teams that finish second through fourth in the conference get to host Canada West quarter-final series. The Golden Bears are six points clear of second-place Calgary. The regular season league champion will host the Canada West Final Four tournament.
 
As a team, UBC is third in the conference in kills per set (12.90), second in blocks per set (2.74), fourth in assists per set (11.78) and second in digs per set (10.37).
 
The Thunderbirds swept Brandon at home last weekend, dropping just a single set. Before the winter break, the squad also won twice at Mt. Royal and twice at home over MacEwan.
 
Outside hitter Irvan Brar (Surrey, B.C.) was named the Canada West Second Star of the Week after recording 34 kills and 22 digs in two UBC matches against Brandon. He leads the Thunderbirds in kills per set with 3.02, and is 16th overall in the league in that statistical category. Outside hitter Mac McNicol (Calgary) is 20th (2.67) and outside hitter Mat Guidi (Coquitlam, B.C.) is 23rd (2.61).
 
Middle Alex Russell (Surrey, B.C.) leads the entire conference in both hitting percentage (.431) and blocks per set (1.33).
 
Alberta won two matches at UBC Okanagan last weekend, with scores of 3-1 and 3-0.
 
Outside hitter Ryley Barns leads the Alberta offence and stands third in the Canada West with an average of 4.11 kills per set. He is also efficient on the attack with a hitting percentage of .358, second in the league. Outside hitter Ryan Nickifor is sixth in kills per set (3.91). Middle Taylor Arnett trails just UBC's Russell in blocks per set (1.21).
 
The Golden Bears are also tops in the conference in several team categories, including kills per set (14.21), hitting percentage (.344), assists per set (13.60) and blocks per set (2.76).
 
Alberta (18.5) and UBC (16.8) are 1-2, respectively, in points per set.