VANCOUVER – The U SPORTS No.5-ranked UBC Thunderbirds (11-3) will look to extend their nine-match winning streak this weekend when they host the Thompson Rivers WolfPack for back-to-back games at War Memorial Gym. Friday night's match is scheduled for a 7:30 p.m. (PT) start as both UBC volleyball programs recognize their alumni and celebrate
Pride Night. The second game of the series is slated for 6:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday.
This year, fans attending the volleyball teams' famously festive Pride Night will be treated to two in-game drag shows, with Acacia Gray performing in the women's game and Canada's Drag Race alum Tiffany Ann Co. performing during the men's, both between the matches' second and third sets. The lobby of War Memorial Gym will also have booths and promotional games, while giveaways will take place throughout the evening. Fans are encouraged to dress colourfully and bring noisemakers to cheer on the 'Birds!
"It's always an honour and a privilege to be able to play on Pride," said UBC men's volleyball head coach
Mike Hawkins. "It represents something so beautiful for our community as a whole and within the volleyball community. It's always an incredible environment to play in and an amazing crowd to play in front of. We're really excited to play on Friday, and the nice thing is that its doubling down as our alumni night as well, so it should be a boisterous crowd greeting the WolfPack!"
The streaking T-Birds are undefeated at home this season and have not loss a match since early November. It's been just under a calendar year since the defending Canada West and U SPORTS bronze medalists have lost a regular season or playoff game at War Memorial Gym.
The team's most recent wins came in a home sweep of the Manitoba Bisons last weekend, in which the the 'Birds dropped the very first set before winning six in a row to earn 3-1 and 3-0 victories. The Bisons came in as the best blocking and serving team in Canada West, but the T-Birds turned the tables by out-blocking their opponents 19-15 and putting up 17 aces compared to 13 from the visitors as part of a well-rounded and largely dominant performance.
Battling an illness, Coach Hawkins ceded head coaching responsibilities for the weekend to top assistant Jay Tremonti, who he praised for stepping in at the last minute and leading the team to two decisive wins.
"I thought Jay did a really good job of stepping up both nights, particularly Saturday," reflected Hawkins. "It was clear he had the guys ready on Saturday with a really good game plan and some key adjustments. I think we just sort of smothered anything that Manitoba was bringing in the first set and then that carried over for the rest of the match."
The victories put UBC well within striking distance of the top spot in Canada West with six matches remaining. The T-Birds trail Winnipeg and Alberta by one win each, but hold two games in hand on Alberta while also having the points tiebreaker over Winnipeg.
Most key underlying numbers point to the blue and gold being the best team in the conference, as UBC leads Canada West in points, kills, assists and digs per set, all while committing the fewest receiving errors.
Thompson Rivers comes to Point Grey as a far more dangerous opponent than their 4-10 record would suggest. After suffering a long losing streak going into the winter break, the WolfPack have had a tremendously impressive start to their second half. The 'Pack took on the top two teams in the conference to begin 2025, the aforementioned Golden Bears and Wesmen, each was the U SPORTS No.2-ranked team at the time of the matchup and Thompson Rivers split their series with both, including earning a win on the road against defending national champion Alberta.
"They are a unique team to play because they do tend to roll different lineups and put guys in different situations, which is where I think that they have a lot of success," mused Hawkins. "They're a difficult team to game plan for and in-match you're always having to figure out the pieces of the puzzle. I think that's one thing that (reigning Canada West Coach of the Year) Pat (Hennelly) does really well is that he understands the strengths of his athletes and then tries to use them in as many different ways as possible."
Last season, the teams split a pair of 3-1 matches at War Gym. The win for the WolfPack snapped a five-game head-to-head winning streak for the 'Birds.
"They force you to become impatient because they put you in long rallies," added Hawkins, who played for TRU and coached on Hennelly's staff before joining UBC. "I think if we can be patient with some of our decision making while also being really stable defensively while TRU's on attack then I think that we can put ourselves in good positions. But if we start becoming impatient, searching for kills that maybe aren't there, then they've got the quality to take things over."'
This is the second-last home weekend in the regular season for UBC volleyball. The team's last home series is February 14-15 against the UFV Cascades. UBC's playoffs are likely to begin with the Canada West quarter-finals February 28-March 2 with the T-Birds hoping their run culminates in a return to the U SPORTS Championship March 21-23, hosted by Brandon University.
Tickets for this weekend's games may still be available
here. Stream all of the action, live or on demand, on
Canada West TV.
