VANCOUVER - The UBC Thunderbirds (0-2) will embark on their first road trip of the season to face the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack (1-1) on Friday and Saturday at 6:45 pm in Kamloops. After two tough losses to open the season, the T-Birds will be looking to get in the win column and continue to develop their systems under new Head Coach Mike Hawkins against his former team. The two Canada West squads last met a season ago at War Memorial Gym in a 3-0, 3-0 sweep by the 'Birds.


 

Last Action

 
On their home-opening weekend the Thunderbirds honoured last year's national championship team in front of a jam-packed War Memorial gym. The new-look T-Birds were in tough against the University of Alberta, and dropped back-to-back matches to the Golden Bears 3-1. Second-year outside hitter Coltyn Liu led the 'Birds with 18 kills in the two matches, while rookie Michael Dowhaniuk put up 17 kills in his debut series. Second-year Zec Johnson got the start at setter and tallied 74 assists with 4 service aces and 12 digs.
 
TRU dropped their season opener to the Calgary Dinos 3-1 before turning around and earning a 3-0 victory on night two of their road series. Former NCAA Div. 1 athlete Tim Dobbert racked up 38 kills for the Wolfpack in his first Canada West action after four successful seasons with BYU.


 

By the Numbers

 
14 – The T-Birds' 14 service aces on opening weekend is good for second in the Canada West and, although its early, the 'Birds will be gunning to maintain their service prowess as a crucial aspect of achieving success this season.
 
209 – UBC totalled the third-most attacks (209) in the Canada West over 8 sets of action last weekend with multiple first-year players getting quality looks on offense.


 

Players to Watch

 
Coltyn Liu – (#4, Outside Hitter) – The 6'5 kinesiology student will be one to watch as he gains a more prominent role in his second season with the Thunderbirds. Liu is hitting at a 0.342 clip with 38 total attacks, 18 kills and a team-high 22 points to date.
 
Jordan Deshane – (#9, Middle) – In his third year with the 'Birds, Deshane currently leads the team with 5 blocks while adding 15 kills and a strong veteran presence.


  

Coach's take

 
UBC Head Coach Mike Hawkins says the Thunderbirds are on the right path after his first weekend at the helm.
 
"After some time debriefing the weekend with the athletes and the coaching staff, we can take confidence in knowing that we came away with clear things that we need to improve on and the power to control those things. We have a lot of physical skill on our team and will continue to instil our systems and improve on our technical skills to improve throughout the year. It will be up to our group to determine how great we want to be this season."
 
Hawkins is quite familiar with the upcoming opponent and looks forward to translating that into a strong weekend series.
 
"Along with Asst. Coach Matt Krueger, I was fortunate to play and coach at TRU so I know this team and coach very well. They are going to be a physically imposing team, serving tough and blocking well. They will play a similar style of play to U of A, so we can be confident in knowing that things that worked well last weekend should benefit us again this upcoming weekend. TRU will be a great test for our young team. I know Coach Hennelly and their department will do a great job packing the TCC for their home opener, it's going to be a great atmosphere to play our first road matches of our Canada West season."