After a strong regular season, the UBC Thunderbirds now turn their focus towards the playoffs and the Canada West Quarterfinals this weekend. The best-of-three series pits the 'Birds (15-5) against the Brandon Bobcats (10-10) at War Memorial Gym on Thursday, February 27th, Friday, February 28th, and (if necessary) Saturday, March 1st.

The Thunderbirds aim to improve on last year's milestone postseason where they won both Canada West and U SPORTS bronze, earning their first playoff medals in Mike Hawkins' tenure as head coach. With nearly the entire squad returning from last season, they are hungry to try and reach even greater heights.

"I think the experience of last year really helps," said Hawkins. "Now there's a calmness to our excitement, as opposed to an anxiousness. You don't fall to the top of the mountain – you've got to climb it, you've got to go through some trials to get to the top. I think the experience we had last year is going to prove super beneficial for us."



The blue and gold enjoyed standout regular season campaigns from a number of players. Setter Mason Greves led Canada West in assists per set (10.82), while libero Logan Greves led the conference in digs per set (2.36) for the second straight season.

Outside hitter Gavin Moes ranked fifth in kills per set (3.69), including a sterling 4.09 average in the six matches that fellow star outside hitter Reeve Gingera missed in the second term.

Middle blocker and team captain Kieran Robinson-Dunning enjoyed one of the most efficient attacking seasons in Canada West history, ranking sixth all-time and first in UBC history (dating back to 2002-03) with a .510 hitting percentage (minimum three attacks per set).
 

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As a unit, the T-Birds enter the playoffs with some momentum. After a 2-3 start to the season, the 'Birds won 13 of their next 15 matches to earn the third seed for the Canada West playoffs.  They are 11-0 at home, and were able to enjoy a bye week in the first round of the postseason.

"I think we're feeling good, and confident," said Hawkins. "The weekend off was good for us to continue getting healthy…we're feeling good, we're feeling well-prepared, but we know it's going to be a tough weekend."

Standing in the way of the 'Birds in the quarterfinal round are the Brandon Bobcats, who finished sixth in the conference standings. The hosts of this year's U SPORTS National Championship tournament, the Bobcats are starting to round into form after a slow start, winning six of their last eight matches heading into the playoffs.

The Manitoba-based outfit have been a defence-first side this season, leading the conference in both digs per set (10.12) and blocks per set (2.60). Individually, middle blocker Philipp Lauter ranks third in blocks per set (1.08). On the offensive end, outside hitters Liams Pauls and Riley Grusing both average over 2.6 kills per set, while setter J.J. Love leads the team in both assists and digs.



The Thunderbirds and Bobcats faced each other back near the beginning of the season, in UBC's home opening weekend. The T-Birds won both matches 3-1, both of them very hard-fought bouts.

"All Grant Wilson-coached teams are really good at block defence," added Hawkins. "We know that they're going to do their best to keep us off the net from their aggressive serve pressure…it's going to be a good battle and we're looking forward to it."

Should the Thunderbirds prevail in the best-of-three series, they will advance to the Final Four held next weekend at the site of the highest remaining seed. The Final Four features single-match elimination in both the semifinals and the medal round.

The first match of this weekend's series begins at 7:00 p.m. (PT) on Thursday. Friday's match is at 7:30 p.m. (PT), and should a third be necessary it will happen at 8:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday. All the matches take place at War Memorial Gym and will be broadcast live and on demand on Canada West TV.