UBC – ‘Birds Host Cougars in Home Opener

VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (1-3) return to the friendly confines of War Memorial Gym for their home opener on Friday, November 1, against the Mt. Royal Cougars (2-2) at 7:30 p.m. PT. Game two of the Canada West series is slated for Saturday, November 2, at 6:30 p.m. PT as the two potent attacking teams meet for the first time in conference play.

The Cougars (210) and ‘Birds (201) are first and second in the conference in total kills this season, while the T-Birds hold top spot with the highest average kills per set (12.56) in the Canada West.

UBC took down Mt. Royal 3-1 in preseason action during the Blue Team Cup exhibition in early October and will be looking to get back in the win column after two straight weekends on the road. Last season, the Cougars swept the T-Birds 3-1 and 3-0 in Calgary when ranked No. 4 in the country.

Last Action

The ‘Birds dropped back-to-back matches to the No. 9-ranked Huskies, 3-1 and 3-1, in Saskatchewan last weekend, despite a solid attacking performance. UBC totalled 91 kills to Saskatchewan’s 76 and racked up 17 aces to the Huskies’ 13. Matt Neaves tallied 28 kills over the weekend and is now fourth in the Canada West with 58 kills to date, while Coltyn Liu dropped seven aces in eight sets.

Mt. Royal split their road series with the Manitoba Bisons (1-1) last weekend, winning game one in five sets before losing in four the following evening. The Cougars lead the Canada West in total attacks (513), service aces per set (2.24) and total points (276.0) heading into week three. Outside hitter Tyler Schmidt leads the league with an average 4.61 kills per set, while Cougar libero Jonathan Phililps has the most digs (216) so far this season.

Coach’s Take

UBC head coach Mike Hawkins says his team is looking forward to playing in front of their home fans.

“There are pros and cons to starting with two weekends on the road, including team cohesion and a tough challenge to start the year, but we are excited to be back at War Memorial for our home opener,” said Hawkins. “We’ve had a few tough results despite feeling like we’ve played well, so we are looking forward to piecing all components of our game together in front of our home fans.”

Hawkins expects two tough matches against a new-look Cougars team.

“Mount Royal turned over a significant amount of their starting lineup after last season, so their lineup will be filled with fresh faces who are eager to get a result. We were in a similar position last year, so we know not to take their youthfulness for granted. We had some success against them in Blue Team Cup during pre-season, but we expect a tough two matches against the Cougars.”

[SOURCE: UBC]

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