VANCOUVER – Riding an 11-match win streak and sporting a 17-1 record on the season overall, the Thunderbirds will have one of their biggest tests of the campaign so far when they take on the No. 4 nationally-ranked UBC Okanagan Heat (15-3) in their final matches of the regular season.
While they have already clinched the top overall seed in Canada West following their sweep over UFV on the road last weekend, the T-Birds will want to enter the postseason on a high and play to their best against a team that's also aiming to contend for playoff glory.
"Though this match won't have any effects on the final standings for us, our interest is in our performance," said UBC head coach
Mike Hawkins. "Making sure we're playing the way that we want to against a strong opponent and being able to close the regular season out well at home."
Both of this weekend's matches also have their own special significance. First, on Friday the Thunderbirds will honour the 50th anniversary of the program's 1975-76 national championship-winning team, which is also one of just two UBC Men's Volleyball teams to have won both a conference and national title in the same season (along with 1966-67).
To mark the occasion the 'Birds will be wearing special Legacy Jerseys which will be worn for just the one night only. A number of players from that 1975-76 championship team, as well as head coach Lorne Sawula, will be on hand inside War Memorial Gym.
Then, it's Senior Night on Saturday, when this year's class of graduating athletes are recognized for their impact on the program in their final regular season home game.
This season's group of graduating players is quite a star-studded one, featuring libero
Logan Greves, setter
Mason Greves, middle blocker
Kieran Robinson-Dunning and outside hitter
Reeve Gingera.
"It's funny because they could not be four more different people, even though there's a set of identical twins," said Hawkins. "I feel proud of the young men they've developed into as well as the volleyball players they've developed into, and I'm excited about what's next for them – whether that's volleyball-related or moving on with life.
"We talk about a legacy of excellence within our program, and I don't know you're going to find four guys who embody that quite like those four."
A two-time Canada West Libero of the Year,
Logan Greves currently ranks 16th in the conference's history in career digs per set (2.253), the highest mark of any active player. He's also just outside the top 20 for total career digs (672), needing another nine to equal Winnipeg's Joshua McKay and Brandon's Reece Dixon.
Meanwhile, his brother Mason has 725 career Canada West digs, 16th all-time. The two-time All-Canadian setter also boasts 3,760 assists, third all-time and just 56 behind Manitoba's Luke Herr for second. He's started an incredible 117 matches across regular season and playoffs, and has only missed two matches in his UBC career.
Robinson-Dunning has enjoyed a tremendous three seasons in the blue and gold, transferring to UBC after winning back-to-back CCAA national championships with Camosun College. The T-Birds' captain broke the program record for best single-season hitting percentage (.510) last year, and this season sits third in Canada West in blocks per set (1.19).
Gingera has starred on the outside for the T-Birds since becoming a starter as a second-year player, leading the team in kills per set in two of the last three seasons. That included a career-best 4.13 kills per set in 2023-24, when he finished third in Canada West in that category.
The Heat are also a veteran-laden group, led by fifth-year setter Zach van Geel (fourth in Canada West in assists per set), fourth-year outside hitter Seba Manuel (fourth in Canada West in kills per set) and fourth-year middle blocker Thys Weststrate (second in Canada West in blocks per set).
"They're a really strong team, and really well coached," remarked Hawkins on the Kelowna outfit. "They've got some good veteran players, and I think winning is contagious in this league and they're the product of that. They went on a really good run throughout the first semester and start of the second semester, so we know we're not just going to be facing a talented group, but a really confident group too."
After a 13-1 start to the season the Heat have stumbled slightly in recent matches, splitting their last two series against Trinity Western and Mount Royal. They can finish anywhere from second to fourth in the conference standings depending on how this weekend goes, and will want to make a statement against the No. 1 ranked team in U SPORTS.
CLICK HERE for tickets to this weekend's exciting pair of matchups, which will also be broadcast on
Canada West TV. Friday's battle between UBC and UBCO begins at 7:30 p.m. (PT), followed by the rematch at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.
