‘Birds Return Home for Senior’s Weekend Showdown With Winnipeg

VANCOUVER – After nearly a full month gap between home games, the UBC Thunderbirds (11-9) return to the friendly confines of War Memorial Gym this weekend for a Friday-Saturday doubleheader matchup with the Winnipeg Wesmen (8-12).
 
Mike Hawkins‘ crew enters the weekend ranked sixth in the Canada West standings, and are on the cusp of officially clinching a berth in the 2022-23 Canada West playoffs. Winnipeg currently sits ninth, but share the same record with the eighth placed group from Thompson Rivers University. Hawkins, the sixth-year head coach knows that the home crowd and home routines generate a positive boost for his team. “War Memorial Gym is a special place to play. Playing in front of friends, family and alumni gives us a big boost especially at a key point in our season.”

 
Last weekend in Calgary, the ‘Birds dropped a pair of decisions to the Calgary Dinos. Calgary took Saturday’s game in three sets, but Friday’s affair was hotly contested, and UBC arguably deserved a better fate. But overall a disappointing weekend for the ‘Birds who eased Matt Neaves back into the fold, and had Coltyn Liu play front row for the first time in over a year. “Calgary is a tough team and they’ve been playing some good volleyball as of late,” added Hawkins. “There were a lot of moving parts for us last weekend, and we probably weren’t as sharp as we were hoping to be coming off the bye week. Our offensive wasn’t clicking the way we had hoped it would, but we’ve been working hard to fix this week.”
 
Every team faces different forms of adversity through a season, and the blue and gold are no different. But even despite the injuries, lineup juggling and the overall quality of competition this year in Canada West, Mike Hawkins is encouraged by his team and what they are ultimately capable of come playoff time. “We’ve been battling through chaos most of the season,” said Mike Hawkins. “But this is the time of the season where you hope that our depth and our resilience will pay off. Having younger players like Reeve Gingera, Conaire Taub and Jesse Umoren all play important roles this year is going to be huge for us in the long run. We’re looking forward to the opportunity this weekend to refine our systems and wrap up the regular season with as much momentum as possible.”
 
The UBC Thunderbirds are in for a challenging weekend against a Winnipeg team that is fighting for their playoff lives. The Wesmen enter the weekend riding a two-game winning streak after completing a sweep over their Manitoba rivals.
 
“Winnipeg are always a difficult team to play,” concluded Hawkins. “They’re well coached, scrappy and they play a unique system that makes it tough with so many players rotating at different positions. It’ll be a unique challenge for us, but one that is going to help us communicate because if we don’t it could be a tough weekend for us. We need to make sure that we can match their intensity. But given that it’s Senior’s Weekend I have no doubt that we will be up for it.”

 
This weekend at War Memorial Gym also provides the opportunity for the Thunderbirds and their supporters to recognize graduating seniors: Michael Dowhaniuk, Matt Neaves and Gerard Murray. All three have played vital roles in the success of the UBC Thunderbirds men’s volleyball program in recent years and will be celebrated accordingly this weekend.
 
The weekend begins Friday at War Memorial Gym with a 7:45 pm showdown, followed by a 6:45 battle Saturday. Tickets for both nights can be purchased HERE. You can also catch the action live on Canada West TV.