VANCOUVER – The reigning U SPORTS and Canada West bronze medalist UBC Thunderbirds are set to kick off their 2024-25 campaign this weekend when they visit Winnipeg for a back-to-back against the Wesmen. Saturday’s match is schedule for a 2:45 p.m. (PT) start at the Duckworth Centre, Sunday’s match is set to begin at 12:45 p.m. (PT).
The double medalist T-Birds are looking to build on a very promising 2023-24 season that saw the team outperform its seed in both the conference playoffs and at the national championship tournament. The U SPORTS bronze also represents the first national medal under head coach Mike Hawkins, which the team accomplished while battling significant late season injuries and with no graduating seniors on the roster.
“We have ambitions of building on last year’s results,” said Hawkins, who spent the summer coaching with Canada’s senior men’s indoor national team at the 2024 Paris Olympics. “We’re returning most of our young core, like the Greves twins, Reeve Gingera and Gavin Moes, which is very exciting. I think the fact that we’ve also brought in so many new faces makes this a bit of a fresh start at the same time. While we obviously have high ambitions, we also understand that this is a bit of a new team with a lot to prove at the beginning of the season.”
UBC begins the year with a fascinating test against a Winnipeg team at the center of multiple key inflection points for the blue and gold last campaign.
The ‘Birds had their worst series of the year in Winnipeg in early November, losing 3-0 in both matches, the only time that they were double swept over the entire regular season. However, that sound defeat kickstarted a fantastic run that saw the T-Birds win 12 of their next 13 matches, ultimately earning them home court advantage in multiple playoff rounds by the narrowest of margins.
One of those rounds was the Canada West Bronze Medal Match when the blue and gold got their revenge against the Wesmen, winning a 3-2 thriller in front of a raucous crowd at War Memorial Gym and punching their ticket to the national championships for first time since 2018.
“It’s about as tough of a test and you can get to start the season, travelling to Winnipeg and playing a veteran Wesmen team,” concluded Hawkins. “We know that they’re going to be good. Isaiah Olfert is a strong outside in our league, Paxton Koop does such a good job being the heartbeat of their squad. So we know that, even missing Liam Kristjanson who moved on from last year’s squad, they’re still going to be really dangerous.
“Larry McKay, their former head coach, retired. Their new coach Chris Voth, who I know quite well, is a really fantastic coach. He’s a former senior national team player and has coached professionally in Europe. He’s going to have them really well prepared.
“It’s going to be a dog fight for sure.”
Catch the season opener, as well as all regular season UBC Thunderbirds volleyball, live or on demand, on Canada West TV.
The T-Birds home opener takes place Halloween night when ‘Birds will look to spook the visiting Brandon Bobcats at 6:00 p.m. (PT) at War Memorial Gym.