VANCOUVER, B.C. – War Memorial Gym turned 75 this month, and the old building has plenty of stories to tell, including those of numerous championship teams winning banners on its court.
U SPORTS No.1-ranked UBC Thunderbirds men's volleyball (19-1) is looking to add to that list, as the top-seed T-Birds take on the ninth-seed Calgary Dinos (8-12) in a best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series. All games are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. (PT), with the first two taking place on Thursday and Friday, followed by a potential game three, if needed, on Saturday.
One thing War Gym has not seen in a long time is this T-Birds team lose. The blue and gold have not dropped a regular season or playoff game on home court in over two years, a streak spanning 26 matches and counting.
"As we will be talking about all week, the reality is that our record is now 0-0 again," commented UBC head coach
Mike Hawkins. "We have the challenge that we need to essentially win three games to make it to the national championships and then we've got to win three in a row to take it home.
"It doesn't really do much for us to rest on the fact that we had a great regular season. Now it's time for us to really show what we're capable of."
The 'Birds have simply been dominant whether at home or on the road this season. Ranked as the top team in the country nearly from start to finish, pick a statistical category and they excel in it. UBC's offence is easily the strongest in Canada West, leading in points per set, kills per set, attack percentage (by a wide margin), and assists per set. The T-Birds have no significant deficits either, posting the fewest reception errors in the conference, while also ranking top-five in aces per set, digs per set, and blocks per set.
"I think we're really good with our style of play and when we veer from that or let doubt creep in, which fortunately hasn't happened much this year, that's when we don't play as well as we can," said Hawkins.
"I think once we're really clear with our identity, our style of play, the behaviour, the mindset we want to play with, then we end up having the record that we do. I think that's a good representation of it."
Riding a 13-game win streak into the playoffs, the T-Birds face a familiar opponent in the Dinos, having just gone to Calgary for a series little over a month ago. UBC won those matches 3-1 and 3-0, with the dropped set in the first game being one of only three set losses for the 'Birds in the second half of the season.
While the Dinos don't stand out statistically, they do seem to have a penchant for stepping up in important games. Calgary swept rival and U SPORTS No.5-ranked Alberta last month in their lone series of the season, and after being swept in straight sets by Mount Royal two weeks before the playoffs, the Dinos bounced back beautifully to upset and eliminate the Cougars in their Play-In series last weekend.
"Calgary is a good, young team," praised Hawkins. "Young in the sense that they have some young players in key positions as well as some really awesome veterans. They receive incredibly well, they've got some big middles, and they run a good offence, Matt Brown does a good job of dishing the rock."
If the T-Birds win the series, they will host the Canada West Final Four March 6-7 at War Memorial Gym. The top three teams in that mini tournament will qualify for the U SPORTS Championship, taking place March 13-15 in Windsor, Ontario.
