After dispatching the Brandon Bobcats in a sweep in the Canada West Quarterfinals, the UBC Thunderbirds head to the Final Four where the battle for conference glory (and qualification for the U SPORTS National Championship) will be intense.

The T-Birds will enter the weekend with confidence, after consecutive 3-0 victories to begin their postseason campaign. After winning bronze in last year's Canada West playoffs, this battle-tested UBC core have their sights set on improving on that performance.

"There was a wide range of areas where I thought our team shined throughout the weekend against a tough, gritty Brandon team," said Thunderbirds head coach Mike Hawkins. "Despite the 3-0 match scores, those games were hard-fought and we found ourselves in a few deficits or tightly contested sets in the 'red zone'. When we needed to step up, apply pressure, or handle the difficult situations – we did. This group has gained a lot of experience over the last few seasons and it showed this past weekend."



The 'Birds have some steep competition at the Final Four, hosted by the Canada West No. 1 seed Winnipeg Wesmen. Joining them are the No. 2 Alberta Golden Bears, No. 3 Thunderbirds and No. 4 Saskatchewan Huskies. With a combined record of 62-18, those four teams all sit within the top six of the U SPORTS national rankings.

Individually, there are plenty of high-profile athletes to watch as well. For the second straight year T-Bird Logan Greves was named the Canada West Libero of the Year, with the conference's Player of the Year (Alberta's Isaac Heslinga), Rookie of the Year (Winnipeg's Easton Dick) and Coach of the Year (Winnipeg's Chris Voth) all also at the Final Four.

Together, the four teams combine for four Canada West First Team All-Stars (Heslinga, UBC's Mason Greves, Winnipeg's Isaiah Olfert and Saskatchewan's Emmett Graham), three Canada West Second Team All-Stars (UBC's Gavin Moes, Alberta's Trent Cherewaty and Saskatchewan's Jacob Baird) and three Canada West All-Rookie Team members (Dick, UBC's Alex Emery and Alberta's Owen Harris).
 

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After starting the postseason with a best-of-three series, the format now shifts as the T-Birds have a one-and-done semifinal match on Friday, March 7th, followed by either a gold or bronze medal match the following day.

"The biggest difference in this type of Final Four setup is the quick turnaround from Game 1 to Game 2," explained Hawkins. "Similar to the rhythm of the National Championship, it's imperative to not look too far ahead but simply live and focus one game at a time."

First up for the 'Birds is a very familiar foe in Alberta. This will be the eighth meeting in the last 14 months between the Thunderbirds and the Golden Bears, after facing off twice in each of the last two regular seasons as well as in both of last year's Canada West and U SPORTS semifinals.

Alberta has proven to be a bit of a bogey team for the T-Birds, defeating them in both playoff meetings last season as well as just a month ago in Edmonton.

"It's beneficial to have played Alberta so recently in our Canada West matchup," added Hawkins. "We know they're a strong team with dynamic players, but our focus is going to be upgrading and refining the areas we felt we could've been better in our weekend series. We know that we've got a few more gears to shift into, and given the way we've been training and playing for the last three weeks, I'm confident in our group being able to perform when the lights are shining at their brightest."



One major difference in the last meeting between the 'Birds and Bears is that the blue and gold were without the services of Reeve Gingera, who is back in the lineup and made a big impact against the Bobcats. The outside hitter recorded a combined 20 kills, 10 digs and six aces over the two matches, while fellow star hitter Moes had a combined 26 kills, 10 digs and seven aces with a .373 hitting percentage.

The semifinal matchup between UBC and Alberta happens at 5:00 p.m. (PT) on Friday. The T-Birds will then face either the Wesmen or the Huskies the following day. The bronze medal match is at 3:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday, followed by the Canada West Final at 5:00 p.m. (PT).

If the Thunderbirds place in the top three at this weekend's Final Four, they will qualify for the U SPORTS National Championship, taking place from March 21st to 23rd in Brandon.