The defending U SPORTS national champion UBC Thunderbirds open up the 2019-20 Canada West season Saturday and Sunday, October 19
th and 20
th when they visit the Winnipeg Wesmen in the Manitoba capital.
Much has changed since the 'Birds' historic victory in Edmonton back in March, but the expectation for them to be a hard-working, tough-to-beat squad certainly hasn't.
It's a very different looking team with the departure of 2018-19 U SPORTS and national championship MVP
Kiera Van Ryk who embarked on a professional career over the summer. Add in the graduation of former captain
Victoria Behie as well as
Ciara Hanly,
Samantha Patko and others and this year boasts an even younger squad.
The 'Birds will be counting on veterans such as
Jayde Robertsen and
Anna Price to help lead the way both on and off the court while fans will get their first look at incoming recruits
Heather Pippus and
Erika Vermette in league action.
UBC swept the Wesmen in straight sets in both their meetings last season and boast a nine-match win streak over their Winnipeg rivals. But as the new year begins, the past doesn't mean much as both squads start with a fresh slate looking to make an early positive impact.
First serve Saturday at the Duckworth Centre is 3:00 p.m. PT with Sunday's rematch set for 12:00 p.m. PT.
Last Action
The 'Birds dropped their final pre-season match in five sets to the Trinity Western Spartans at the West Coast Classic back on October 6
th.
Winnipeg also ended their busy pre-season with a five-set loss, theirs courtesy of the Manitoba Bisons on September 29
th.
Coach's Take
Training and preparation for the start of the season has gone well for the T-Birds, but the big test, of course, comes on the competition court.
"The first weekends of the year often bring a lot of uncertainty and it's rarely that crisp," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer who enters his 23
rd season with the Thunderbirds. "We have to be able to manage that and do that in ways that's a positive challenge as opposed to starting the season by putting pressure on ourselves."
Given the new look of this year's team, offence will likely need to come by committee.
"The premium is on everybody to contribute a little bit more so that no one individual has to carry an offensive load," added Reimer who knows the whole of his team is greater than the sum of its parts. "We need to focus well, all the time, take care of little things and find ways to make our life easier and be hard to play against."
Starting with back-to-back weekends on the road may not be ideal, but it can also go a long way at this part of the season towards building a team identity.
"We have a long season, these first two weekends aren't going to tell the whole tale, but we're going to have to learn how to battle and scrap really hard and we need to start doing that every day."
