VANCOUVER – The UBC Thunderbirds (3-3) are looking to bounce back on home court when they host the winless Calgary Dinos (0-6) at War Memorial Gym on Friday, November 15, at 6:00 p.m. PT and Saturday, November 16, at 5:00 p.m. PT. UBC is coming off of a Canada West bye week, while the Dinos are still in search of their first victory of the season.

While their rosters may be different now than in their last head-to-head matchups, these two Canada West foes are quite familiar. UBC and Calgary met in the conference semifinals a season ago when the Dinos advanced to the Canada West finals with a pair of 3-1 home victories after also battling in the final week of the regular season.

Last Action

UBC was in tough against the undefeated Mount Royal Cougars (8-0) two weekends ago in their home opening series at War Memorial Gym. The ‘Birds fell in straight sets in both matches against the conference-leading Cougars to fall back to .500 early in the season. Despite the loss, the ‘Birds still demonstrated their strength from the service line with 14 total aces over the weekend, led by fifth-year veteran Anna Price’s seven aces, and are fourth in the Canada West with an average of 2.48 aces per set.

The Dinos also failed to win a set in their most recent series – falling 3-0 and 3-0 to the MacEwan Griffins (4-4) on home court.

Coach’s Take

“I think that the bye came at a good time for us,” said UBC head coach Doug Reimer. “It allowed a bit of recovery from a tough weekend and the first three weeks of a long league season, and gave the players a week and weekend to also focus on school.”

With his team looking to rebound at War Memorial Gym, Reimer points to the team’s offence as a place to start.

“We hope to improve on our offensive efficiency and output as a first priority. In saying that, I’m thinking of both individuals – in terms of their ability to score even when we aren’t in the system – and our unit as a whole in terms what we are able to run.”

Ahead of the upcoming matchup, Reimer says the Dinos are better than their winless record shows.

“Calgary has been a strong team that was hit with serious injuries at the end of last season.   That was compounded by the fact that there top middle Beth Vinall didn’t play last weekend, but we are preparing for her to be there this weekend.”

[SOURCE: UBC]