Matchup
The road to the National Championships begins this weekend at War Memorial Gym, as the No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds will host the seventh-seeded Manitoba Bisons in the Canada West Quarter-Final to kick off the postseason. The best-of-three series gets going on Thursday evening at 7:00 pm, with game two on Friday at 8:00 pm and - if necessary - a deciding game three on Saturday at 8:00 pm PT.
While the T-Birds maintained an undefeated home court record throughout 2017, the Bisons managed to hand UBC its first home loss of the season in a five-set marathon at War Memorial Gym in January.
"That loss is certainly motivation for us this week," admitted UBC Head Coach
Kerry MacDonald. "We didn't play well that first game back after Christmas and although we responded better the second night against them [in a 3-0 victory], we are excited to play some of our best volleyball of the season this weekend."
To play their best volleyball the 'Birds look to graduating seniors
Irvan Brar,
Keith West and
Mat Guidi, along with
Matt Santema and
Ben Chow, for an extra jolt of motivation to be successful in their final season with UBC.
"This group really enjoys playing together," said MacDonald. "Right now we are cherishing every chance we get to compete together and are driven to make this playoff run a long run."
Last Action
With their playoff berth already solidified, the T-Birds split their last regular season series with the Saskatchewan Huskies a week ago. UBC earned a 3-1 win at War Memorial Gym on Friday before falling in five sets in the rematch on Saturday, to finish their season with the second-best record in the Canada West at 20-4.
Meanwhile, Manitoba enters this quarter-final tilt on a four-game win streak - the last two coming in a convincing 3-0, 3-0 sweep of the UBCO Heat to snag the second-to-last ticket to the postseason. The Bisons 11-13 regular season record was even with the 8th place Thompson Rivers University, and just two points clear of the Huskies in 9th.
By the Numbers
4 – UBC ended the 2017-2018 regular season with the most kills (1154), most points (1557), most service aces (215), and the most assists (1088) in the country - coming into the playoffs with a formidable attack that lead all of U SPORTS in
four different offensive categories.
252 – UBC's potent offense will come up against the nation's best blocking team, as the Bisons totalled a league-high 252 blocks on the season - and topped U SPORTS with 396 block assists.
Players to Watch
Mat Guidi – (#14, Right side) – The 6'3 Coquitlam, B.C. product amassed 751 kills and 57 service aces in nearly 400 sets played so far over five years with the Thunderbirds as he enters his last playoff run with the 'Birds.
Irvan Brar – (#4, Left Side) – The Fraser Heights Secondary grad is a force to be reckoned with on the T-Bird attack, and one of the top hitters in the Canada West. Over his five-year career with UBC, Brar has over 1,200 kills and over 100 service aces to go along with almost 200 blocks and over 700 digs.
Coach's take
Coach MacDonald recognizes contributions from up and down the Thunderbird roster as a benefit to gaining momentum come playoff time.
"I really like the depth that we have been able to show down the stretch. We have a players in every position that are pushing our top guys to be their best and are coming into the matches when needed to play significant roles."
