VANCOUVER – The No.4-seed UBC Thunderbirds (16-8, 2-2) are playing for a Canada West bronze medal and a spot at the U SPORTS Championships for the first time since they won it all in 2018 when they host the No.7-seed Winnipeg Wesmen (15-9, 3-3) for a single, winner-take-all match on Saturday at War Memorial Gym. The match will take place after the UBC women play for Canada West Gold, theoretically scheduled for 7:00 p.m. (PT).
The T-Birds are battling for bronze after sweeping away the Saskatchewan Huskies in the quarter-finals before losing two straight at Alberta in the semis. UBC was severely shorthanded for their series in Edmonton, missing three of their starters and five players overall due to injury. That included all-star outside hitter Reeve Gingera and just-named Canada West Libero of the Year Logan Greves.
Despite dropping all six sets to the Golden Bears, UBC head coach Mike Hawkins said he was proud of his team’s level of effort and perseverance.
“I think above all else there was never a moment of quit amongst the group,” reflected Hawkins. “You don’t want to be in that position where you’re kind of handcuffed with personnel, but the guys that were on the floor gave it their all. At the end of the day Alberta played better than we did, but there was never a moment of quit or giving up from our side.”
With hope that both Gingera and Greves will be able to suit up for the bronze match, as well as a possibility that veteran middle James Vincett may make his long-awaited return, there is plenty of reason for optimism that this young T-Birds team could pull off a near-miraculous run to nationals amid the myriad of injuries.
Hawkins believes that one facet of the game in particular will need to turn around for the ‘Birds to truly bounce back.
“The serve and pass game does really dictate men’s volleyball,” said the sixth-year UBC head coach. “For us, that’s an area of focus throughout the week, and especially the way Winnipeg likes to play, it’s going to be important for us this weekend as well.”
Counter-intuitively, winning a Canada West bronze medal is far rarer feat than winning the gold. The bronze match is only played in seasons where the conference is sending three teams to the U SPORTS Championships, without having one of those spots taken up by the tournament host. While not as glorious as potentially winning a Canada West Championship in a gold medal match, the bronze not only represents a chance at redemption, but also an opportunity to be one of two teams to end a conference playoff run with a win; an especially meaningful feat when the match is in front of the home fans.
“I think for this program it’s important for us to continue to establish ourselves in the upper echelon of not just the regular season standings, but translating that to post-season success,” mused Hawkins. “For our athletes, for our staff, for our program, it’s important. We’re also proud that we did the work we needed to at the end of the season in order to host this game at home.”
Winnipeg reached the bronze medal match by upsetting the No.2-seed Mount Royal Cougar in the quarter-finals before going the distance with the No.3-seed Trinity Western Spartans, but ultimately falling in the third match of the series on Trinity’s home floor. After missing the playoffs last year, the Wesmen took a massive leap forward this season, improving by a full seven wins to match their best record in a decade.
UBC is seeded three spots above Winnipeg, but that’s only due to the absurd parody in the Canada West standings this year. The difference between the two teams is one win and multiple tie-breakers. Further, the Wesmen were the only team to sweep the T-Birds all season, though that happened in Winnipeg early in the year.
“They’re a strong, physical, veteran team, it’s no fluke that they’re here,” commented Hawkins. “They’re just a tough team to play. They’ve got some talented athletes who play a pretty aggressive style and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”
“I don’t know if we can evaluate ourselves based on the matchup we had with them in what was our second week of the season. So many of our guys are so much more mature and experienced now than they were at that point. Not to mention that playing in Winnipeg is way different than playing at War Memorial.”
One unexpected challenge for the visiting Wesmen: they haven’t been home in over a week. Due to bad weather in Winnipeg, the team was never able to return to Manitoba after its series with TWU, meaning they have been unexpectedly living out of their suitcases somewhere in Metro Vancouver for an extended stretch. The silver lining for the visitors is that they’ve been practicing at War Memorial Gym over that time and familiarizing themselves with the environment.
Beyond the bronze medal, the true prize of the weekend is the winner going to Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario for the U SPORTS Championships March 14-17.
Tickets to the medal doubleheader may still be available here. Stream the bronze match live or on-demand on Canada West TV.
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