Matchup
It all comes down to the final weekend of conference play for the second-place UBC Thunderbirds and the eighth-place Saskatchewan Huskies as they strive for a strong finish to the regular season at War Memorial Gym. The 'Birds (19-3) are just two points back of first-place Trinity Western (20-2) and two points up on third-place Alberta as they take on the Huskies (9-13) on Friday at 7:30 pm and Saturday at 6:30 pm (PST). While UBC is guaranteed to host a playoff matchup in the Canada West quarter-finals, Saskatchewan's season is on the line – as they are currently tied with Manitoba for the final playoff spot.
In their most recent meeting, the Thunderbirds and Huskies split the first two matches of last season in Saskatoon. Saskatchewan won a close 3-1 battle despite strong performances by UBC's
Mat Guidi,
Irvan Brar and
Cam Fennema, before the T-Birds came back to win 3-1 the following evening.
On Friday night fans are encouraged to celebrate a history of UBC Volleyball success by turning back the clock a few decades for Flashback Friday. Dust off your best vintage gear and come dressed in true 70's or 80's Flashback style.
http://gothunderbirds.ca/sports/2018/2/13/flashback-friday-2018.aspx?path=track
Last Action
UBC traded road wins with the Trinity Western Spartans last weekend, defeating the No. 1 ranked Spartans 3-1 in Langley but dropping a deciding fifth set (15-13) on home court.
Fynn McCarthy had himself a breakout series with 29 kills, 12 digs and 6 blocks,
Joel Regehr had 15 kills and 7 blocks and
Irvan Brar put up 22 kills on the series.
Saskatchewan lost two straight matches to Alberta, falling 3-0 and 3-1 in Edmonton before going idle on their bye week coming into this crucial weekend to try and extend their season.
By the Numbers
1408 – UBC has scored the most points in the country with
Irvan Brar racking up a team-high 331 – 132.5 points up on second-place
Keith West, and good for 6th in the Canada West.
493 – The Huskies have the most errors in all of U SPORTS with nearly 500 in 80 sets played, and attack with a 0.198 hitting percentage.
Players to Watch
Byron Keturakis – (#1, Setter) – the fourth-year Surrey, BC product has started in all 22 T-Bird matches as one of the best setters in the country. Keturakis leads the nation with 873 total assists, while his average 10.52 assists per set is second in U SPORTS. The Canadian National Team member has also cranked the most service aces (57) and aces per set (0.69) in the league.
Fynn McCarthy – (#11, Middle) – McCarthy earned a career-high 18 kills against Trinity Western last Saturday and continues to show promise in his rookie season with the Thunderbirds, hitting at 0.250 percent and totaling 37 blocks to date.
Coach's take
UBC Head Coach
Kerry MacDonald has an air-tight focus heading into his second season of playoffs with the Thunderbirds.
"Our mindset for this weekend is really unchanged from last week. We are continuing to take every match we can get as an opportunity to be better as we prepare for playoffs. We noticed a couple of items from both our serve receive and offence that we want to improve upon for the upcoming weekend."
