‘Birds back at War Memorial to host ‘Pack

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (3-3) return home after almost a month on the road to take on the Thompson Rivers University Wolfpack (2-4) in a back-to-back series this weekend at War Memorial Gym. Both matches will begin after the schools’ women’s teams play, scheduled for 7:45 p.m. (PT) on Friday and 6:45 p.m. (PT) on Saturday.

After splitting their season-opening series against U SPORTS No.7-ranked Mount Royal, the T-Birds dropped a pair of games on the road against U SPORTS No.3-ranked Winnipeg. Last weekend however, finally facing a team that wasn’t among the country’s very best, the ‘Birds got back to their winning ways, picking up a pair of 3-1 victories at MacEwan.
 

“It’s easy to ride the highs and lows of the results, but our focus is on improving this young squad every day,” said UBC head coach Mike Hawkins. “I thought our block defence, particularly out-of-system, really let us down against Winnipeg. Against Macewan, and after a hard week of practice, that was one of our strengths leading to big block totals, especially on Saturday night.”  

While plenty of attention has gone to the T-Birds new look attack, led by Reeve Gingera and Gavin Moes, a steady member of the ‘Birds starting six seems to have taken his game to a new level this season. Mason Greves tallied a ridiculous 95 assists in the two games against the Griffins and sits second in the conference with an average of 10 assists per set. He led the team in digs by a wide margin on Friday, also sitting second in Canada West in digs per set, just ahead of his twin brother and T-Birds libero Logan Greves in that category. Perhaps most remarkably, Mason led Saturday’s match in blocks, showcasing his all-around game with that rare accomplishment from the setter position.

“Mason is one of the top young players in the country, as proven by the opportunities he’s earned with Team Canada,” praised Hawkins. “He’s stepped in to a much larger leadership role within our team, so while his play on the court has reflected his continued growth as a big-time setter, his leadership is the area I’m most proud of him.”

The Wolfpack are a very familiar foe for the sixth-year UBC head coach, as he played for the team for two years in the early 2010s. Hawkins was voted team captain in his final season in Kamloops, his first leadership position at the U SPORTS level, before quick ascending coaching ranks after his playing career ended.

The T-Birds won both of their meetings with TRU last season, 3-0 and 3-1, and also won 3-0 against the ‘Pack in an exhibition game at War Memorial Gym just before the start of this year’s campaign.
 

“Any Pat Hennelly coached team is going to be gritty and tough to play against,” concluded Hawkins. “It’s a testament to their style and skill that they’ve been able to split against three tough opponents to start the season and we know they’ll be fired up to go after a bye week. They’ve got a strong and experienced lineup led by Elgert and Flowerday, so we expect a slugfest all weekend. We will need to be at our best to get the results we’re looking for.”

The games against Thompson Rivers are the T-Birds’ only ones at home in November. They host the Calgary Dinos on the first weekend of December in their only other matches at War Memorial Gym before the winter break. Tickets to all Thunderbirds home games can be purchased here. Stream all of the team’s regular season action, live or on demand, on Canada West TV.