The Matchup

With just three weeks left in the regular season, the 12-6 UBC Thunderbirds host the 1-19 Regina Cougars for a double-header at War Memorial Gym Friday and Saturday evening. The T-Birds are on a four-game win streak and are sitting in fourth place in the Canada West - four points up on Mt Royal. If the 'Birds finish in the top four, they'll earn home court advantage in week one of the playoffs.


 
Regina has just a single victory under their belt this season coming on a 3-2 win over Thompson Rivers University two weeks ago. UBC blanked the Cougars 3-0, 3-0 in October of 2016, and will be looking to repeat that strong showing to solidify their position in the Canada West quarter-finals.
 

Last Action

The Thunderbirds were in Head Coach Kerry MacDonald's old stomping grounds last weekend, and came away with two hard-fought victories over a Calgary Dinos squad on the outside of the playoffs looking in. UBC's 3-2, 3-2 series sweep was capped off by a nail-biting 17-15 fifth set comeback after being down two sets to none in Calgary.
 
After being shutout 3-0 at home by MacEwan last Friday, the Cougars battled to a 3-2 loss on Saturday against the Griffins and remain in the basement of the division.
 

By the Numbers

909 – UBC's U Sports-leading number of kills this year. Irvan Brar has earned a large portion of them himself, racking up 243.
 
0.134 – the Cougars' stagnant hitting percentage, second worst in the nation. Regina leads the league in errors with 432 on the season.
 

Players To Watch

Byron Keturakis – (#1, Setter) – UBC's main distributor has notched the second most assists in the Canada West with 715 - a huge portion of UBC's U Sports lead of 868 this season.


 
Mat Guidi – (#14, Outside Hitter) – the veteran attacker continues to produce for UBC's dynamic offence with 201 kills so far, and contributes to the defence as well with the third most digs on the roster behind libero Tyson Smith and Keturakis.
 

Coach's Take

"This weekend is another great opportunity for us to get better," says Coach MacDonald. "Our approach this weekend won't change from any other, our guys have really bought into the process and staying in the moment so we will keep that mindset rolling this weekend. Simply put, we need to keep getting better if we want to make playoffs and keep playing into March, so that's what we'll be working on this weekend against Regina."