VANCOUVER - The third-seeded UBC Thunderbirds will face the second-seeded Alberta Golden Bears in a marquee Canada West best-of-three semifinal series this weekend at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, Alberta.
The semifinal series begins Friday, February 28, at 6:00 p.m. PT, with game two going Saturday, February 29, at 4:00 p.m. PT and a deciding game three (if necessary) slated for Sunday, March 1, at 4:00 p.m. PT.
UBC swept the Winnipeg Wesmen, 3-0 and 3-2, to advance to the conference semifinal, while Alberta took care of the Saskatchewan Huskies, 3-0 and 3-1, in their Canada West quarter-final last weekend. The final U SPORTS national rankings of the season have Alberta ranked No. 3 in the country, with the T-Birds only a few points back in the No. 4 spot as little separates the two teams heading into a critical playoff weekend. Although the Golden Bears finished the regular season with one more victory than the UBC, the teams had nearly identical sets won-sets lost records with the 'Birds (62-24) winning and losing one more set than the Bears (61-23).
In their last matchup - just prior to the winter break - there was much separating the two Canada West foes when the T-Birds swept the Golden Bears on the road in Alberta without dropping a set and dominated the service line. UBC put up 16 aces over the six sets of action, with six different players recording aces, while the home team managed just two total aces in the series loss.
Last Action
The 'Birds served well in their quarter-finals sweep over the sixth-place Wesmen at War Memorial Gym last weekend, posting 17 aces in eight sets, as Coltyn Liu tallied an impressive team-high nine aces to go along with 37 kills. Third-year setter Ben Hooker added four aces of his own through eight sets, but also registered a career-high 61 assists in the five set series-clinching victory on Saturday night. Canada West first team All-Star Matt Neaves had 34 kills and five digs over the weekend.
Fourth-year outside hitter Jordan Canham led the Bears with 29 kills through seven sets last weekend, as Alberta took down the seventh-place Huskies in two straight matches on home court. Two more Canada West first team All-Stars had standout weekends, as Jackson Kennedy contributed 24 kills and nine blocks, while setter Max Elgert had six aces over the seven sets.
Coach's Take
"There is clearly some confidence that we can take going into this weekend knowing that last time we competed against them, the result was 3-0, 3-0 in one of our most complete weekends of play," said UBC head coach Mike Hawkins. "That said, however, we are realistic in knowing that that match happened three months ago and both teams are different than where we were at the end of November. It's going to take our best to bring down this Bears team two times. They're going to be buoyed by their home crowd, but we know there will be a big contingent of T-Birds fans there to support us."
Hawkins' team finished second in the Canada West regular season with 2.21 service aces per set, and will need to utilize effective serving as a key factor in their success against Alberta.
"Our serving and serving mentality are significant components of our team's identity," said Hawkins. "We don't just serve aggressively, bombing balls in recklessly from the end line, but it's the aggressive mindset that is key for us to have success. On our team, we're confident that even if an athlete has struggled with a few errors at the start of the match, they are fully capable of rattling off multiple great serves in a row. It's that one-point mentality that we play with every day that will be important this weekend."
