Matchup

 
Home, sweet home! The defending national champion UBC Thunderbirds (1-1) are back at War Memorial Gym for their home opening weekend against the University of Calgary Dinos (4-0) on Friday at 6 pm PST and Saturday at 5 pm PST.
 
Head Coach Doug Reimer says his team feels comfortable on home court. "We hope that playing in front of the home crowd will give that extra bit of energy and a positive competitiveness to the weekend."
 
The level of competition will certainly be high, but Coach Reimer knows his team is capable of rising to the occasion.


 
"Our opening weekend and preseason showed that we can play with the top teams in the conference. We have a number of players that have been asked to do new and different roles and hopefully we are getting a bit more settled and healthier for this weekend."
 
UBC and Calgary met twice in pre-season action, with the 'Birds winning 3-0 at the Griffin-Panda Classic in September and the Dinos taking a 3-1 victory at the West Coast Classic. A season ago, the T-Birds split their matchup with the Dinos in Calgary – earning a 3-1 win before falling 3-2 on night two.
 

Last Action

 
UBC is coming off of a bye weekend after kicking off the 2017-2018 season with a split on the road against UBCO. Kiera Van Ryk led the Thunderbirds with 36 kills on the weekend while Gabrielle Attieh racke up 11 blocks.
 
The undefeated Dinos swept Regina 3-1, 3-0 to start the season and followed it up with a 3-2, 3-0 sweep of the Manitoba Bisons at home.
 

By the Numbers

 
16.50 – UBC leads the Canada West with 16.50 digs per set
 
3 – the Dinos have dropped just three sets in 4 wins so far this season.
 

Players to Watch

 
Gabrielle Attieh – (#4, Middle) – the second-year Surrey product's 0.432 hitting percentage is tops in the Canada West, and she's made quite the impression with 23 kills and 11 blocks over the first two games of the season.


 
Samantha Patko– (#2, Libero) – the fourth-year defensive stalwart is averaging 4.63 digs per set and has 11 assists to date.
 

Coach's take

 
Coach Reimer knows the Dinos will be a tough test early in the season.
 
"We face one of the top teams in the conference that will bring a lot of offence from all positions.   There will be pressure on our squad to defend and block well and that really starts from the service line to get them out of rhythm."