The UBC Thunderbirds are ready to hit the ground running in 2019 with their first series of the year on home court against the MacEwan Griffins on Friday and Saturday, January 11 and 12 inside the friendly confines of War Memorial Gym.
UBC (2-10) was active over the holiday break with six tune-up matches under their belts, while earning some valuable team bonding on their travels. This week it's time to put all the practice into play for a return to conference competition against a Griffins (3-9) squad who are just two points up on the 'Birds in the Canada West standings.
The 2017-2018 Thunderbirds took down MacEwan 3-0 and 3-1 at home, and this season's squad will be gunning for a similarly positive result to jumpstart their January schedule.
First serve Friday is 7:30 p.m. PT with Saturday's rematch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. PT.
Tickets are available online or at the door.
Last Action
UBC took full advantage of their five-week break from Canada West action with a packed schedule of matches, including a special international twist. The T-Birds made an appearance at the TRU McDonald's Classic tournament in Kamloops before hosting South Korea's SKK University and travelling to Hawaii for a pair of memorable matches against the NCAA Div. 1 Rainbow Warriors in Manoa last weekend.
MacEwan earned their third victory of the season against the Winnipeg Wesmen on November 30, but closed out their year with a loss the following evening. Both matches were close five-set battles in Edmonton and demonstrated the Griffins' ability to attack. Max Vriend put up a whopping 28 kills in the night two loss, while Jordan Peters had 32 kills and Kai Hesthammer finished with 36 over the ten sets.
Players to Watch
Coltyn Liu (#4, Outside Hitter) – Liu continues to emerge as one of the key pieces in the T-Bird attack and racked up a team-high 18 kills last weekend against the NCAA Div. 1 Rainbow Warriors. The second-year's performance on offence and defence over the second half of Canada West matches will be essential for UBC's success.
Michael Dowhaniuk (#13, Outside Hitter) – the rookie hitter had a strong finish to 2018 and will be another main target on offence for the 'Birds. His 89 kills to date is second to Liu's 97, while Dowhaniuk has a team-high total attacks (231) and is tied for the most points per set on the Thunderbirds (2.9).
Coach's take
The value of UBC's two matches against Hawaii can't be understated as the team prepares for an important stretch of Canada West matches this month.
"The environment we played in was second to none, with 3000+ fans both nights not only cheering for their home team, but also cheering whenever we made good plays," said UBC head coach
Mike Hawkins. "Hawaii is a physical, senior team and are poised to legitimately contend for a national championship this season. None of our Canada West competitors we will face in the next few weeks can say they are as prepared as we are for hard fought matches after what we faced against the University of Hawaii."
Hawkins also recognized the opportunity for his young team to come together as a unit off the court.
"On top of the games, it was an incredible opportunity for our team to take in the beauty of Hawaii, soak in some sunshine, and spend some meaningful time as a group. We took the opportunity to go through a few team activities as well, so in terms of our team cohesion and dynamics, we came back with tangible things to help us move forward as a group."
With MacEwan next on the horizon, Hawkins expects to see a level of talent that will test his T-Bird team.
"MacEwan has had a tough few seasons recently but coach (Brad Poplawski) has them playing really well this year. They have talented outside hitters, notably Max Vriend and Kai Hesthammer, so it will be imperative for us to keep them off the net with tough serving to limit their effectiveness. We're entering an important stretch for our season, so we definitely won't be taking MacEwan lightly this weekend."
