WINDSOR, Ont. – For the second time in the last three years, the blue and gold will fight for national gold at the U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship, running from Friday, March 13 to Sunday, March 15.
Despite ending the regular season as the No. 1 ranked team in the country, the 'Birds enter the national championship tournament as the No. 7 seed, due to finishing as Canada West bronze medallists at last weekend's Final Four.
After their semifinal loss at the hands of the Manitoba Bisons, the T-Birds came out the next night in a do-or-die matchup with Alberta and took down the Golden Bears in straight sets to keep their season alive.
"I think we were all disappointed with how the match went in the semifinal against Manitoba," reflected UBC head coach
Mike Hawkins. "More than anything, I'm just incredibly proud of the way that we had the proper mindset, mentality and character to bounce back in that bronze medal match.
"The vibe within our team [this week] has been very much about our business. I don't think the loss rocked the boat too much, and I think the way that we were able to bounce back proved to ourselves that we still are a top team in the country."
Lining up on the other side of the court in the Thunderbirds' quarterfinal match will be Queen's, who finished third in the OUA regular season with a 14-6 record but turned their play up a notch in the playoffs as they won the conference championship without dropping a single set.
Coincidentally, the Gaels are the team that UBC played in their last match at nationals, as they defeated the Ontario side in the 2024 bronze medal match. Eight of the 10 players who saw the court for the T-Birds that day remain on the roster ahead of Friday's battle, and the same goes for four of the nine Queen's players who they faced two years ago.
Following their first-round matchup, the 'Birds will face one of RSEQ champs Laval or a Bisons rematch in either the championship or consolation semifinals on Saturday.
"Since we played Queen's at nationals two years ago we are pretty familiar with quite a few of their players," added Hawkins. "Our staff are going to do a really good job of watching video, pulling numbers and things like that, so we're able to make up for a lack of time spent competing against these teams…the nice thing about Laval is that we played them in Kamloops during the Christmas break, so we were able to see that team in case we end playing them."
In addition to the familiar foe in Queen's, there certainly are other parallels between the T-Birds' path this year and the one they faced at the 2024 tournament. That year UBC also entered nationals as the Canada West bronze medallists and were the lower-seeded team in their quarterfinal against the OUA champs, with the team that beat them in the Canada West Semifinals lurking as a potential U SPORTS Semifinals opponent.
With a veteran core that's been in this position before, the Thunderbirds have their sights set on challenging for what would be the fifth national banner in program history, and the first since 2018.
"Above all else, it's just keeping it simple," said Hawkins on what is needed to emerge triumphant this weekend. "The team that does the best job of playing to their standard and not having these huge highs and lows at the tournament, is going to be the most successful.
"I think it's all about being true to yourself and true to your team's style of play and identity, so for us we've been preaching that all year. We're very clear with what our mindset looks like, what UBC volleyball looks like, so we're going to continue to maintain that standard."
You can watch the 'Birds battle for U SPORTS glory this weekend across all CBC digital platforms, including their
YouTube channel and
CBC Gem. The Thunderbirds and Gaels begin their opening round matchup at 11:00 a.m. (PT) on Friday.
