T-Birds set to take on Spartans in home-and-home series

After a pair of home wins over Brandon, the UBC Thunderbirds (2-2) play in-province foes Trinity Western (3-1) in a home-and-home series this weekend. The first match goes at the Langley Events Centre on Friday, November 8th, before the two teams head to War Memorial Gym on Saturday, November 9th.

The rival squads are neck-and-neck in the U SPORTS national rankings, with the T-Birds holding steady at #6 and the Spartans clocking in this week at #5. This weekend’s series is part of a formidable start to the season for the Thunderbirds, facing the Spartans after previously matching up with the 6-0 Winnipeg Wesmen and the hosts of this year’s national championship in the Brandon Bobcats.

“Canada West is so deep this season, and has been for the last few seasons, so it always feels like you’re in the middle of a really difficult stretch,” said Thunderbirds head coach Mike Hawkins. “This stretch is a grind, for sure, but it’s also helping preparing us for the long haul that is the Canada West season.”

The ‘Birds have flexed their offensive firepower through the first few weeks of the season, with both Gavin Moes (4.1 kills per set) and Reeve Gingera (3.3 kills per set) sitting top ten in the conference in that category. Mason Greves leads Canada West in assists per set (10.3), and UBC has reached the 20-point mark in all but one set they’ve played (not counting shorter fifth sets).

On the defensive end, the T-Birds also lead the conference in digs per set (11.2), led by both Mason and Logan Greves, who rank 4th and 6th in Canada West for that category, respectively. The Calgary-born twins – along with team captain Kieran Robinson-Dunning – provide veteran leadership for the relatively young T-Birds side, with the three of them the only players in their 4th or 5th year of eligibility.

The Spartans might not have put up the gaudy individual numbers that the T-Birds have at this stage of the season, but the Langley outfit stand at 3-1 after they swept MacEwan handily on opening weekend, before splitting their series against the Bobcats two weeks ago.

TWU is led offensively by the young outside hitter/middle blocker combo of Piers de Greeff and John Obi, supported by veteran setter Anselm Rein who was a Canada West All-Star last season.

The Thunderbirds and Spartans split their two-game series in each of the last two seasons, with the home team winning all four matchups. After this weekend UBC has another bye (their second already this season) before facing the Mount Royal Cougars in two weeks’ time.

“The schedule has been a little unusual this season, but it also offers us opportunities to reflect and retool as we go through the semester,” added Hawkins. “We are consistently focused on getting better, whether it’s during match weeks or bye weeks, so that’s going to continue being the mentality as we progress through this semester, so we can hit the new year as strong as we can be.”

The first match in Langley on Friday begins at 7:00 p.m. (PT). The two teams then face off again at 6:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday at War Memorial Gym.