The UBC Thunderbirds men’s volleyball team opens the 2019-20 Canada West season with two consecutive road trips and it all gets going this weekend with a visit to Manitoba for back to back meetings with the Winnipeg Wesmen. Game one goes Saturday, October 19 starting at 4:45 p.m. PT while game two is set for Sunday, October 20 with a 1:45 p.m. PT first serve at the Duckworth Centre.
The T-Birds who are two seasons removed from winning the U-SPORTS Championship in 2018 enter their second season under head coach Mike Hawkins. Despite significant turnover from the title winning team, in his first season in charge Hawkins led the ‘Birds to an 11-11 record, good for a seventh-place finish in the Canada West standings before falling to the rival Trinity Western Spartans 2-1 in the CW quarterfinal to conclude the campaign.
The Wesmen meanwhile finished 2018-19 occupying 10th spot in CW standings with a record of 7-15 which had them on the outside looking in at playoff time.
The T-Birds and Wesmen’s last meeting took place in February of this year with UBC winning both matches 3-1 at War Memorial Gym on the Point Grey campus.
In trying to fine tune themselves for the regular season the ‘Birds have been busy on the court through late September and early October compiling a pre-season record of 4-2 against fellow Canada West and U SPORTS competition.
The T-Birds pre-season wasn’t restricted to just games in familiar Canada West gym’s however, as they were lucky enough to venture overseas for an impactful international team trip that included some great competition and new cultural experiences in beautiful Padova, Italy. As part of the 10-day trip through the middle of September the ‘Birds competed in some beneficial contests against two professional teams and against their hosts from the University of Padova. The experience also included some classroom sessions and history lessons around campus and the city.
Coaches Take
“I think I can speak on behalf of the entire team when I say we are chomping at the bit to get the Canada West season underway,” said UBC head coach Michael Hawkins when asked about the teams excitement at commencing the season. “With so many things being new last year, I think we all felt like we were chasing our tails to start the year, figuring out our new roles and navigating tough competition. We’ve all had our focus on the 2019/2020 season since the end of last year and are excited to show how much we’ve grown as a group. I have really enjoyed the development of our team throughout the pre-season, which was really kick started with our trip to Italy and a great showing at this year’s Blue Team Cup. I’m confident we’ll be a tough team to play against and will make life difficult on our opponents.”
Hawkins also sized up this weekend’s competition.
“Winnipeg is always a tough team to plan for cause they’re typically creative in their lineups and rotations, and this team will be no different. They are led by some veteran athletes, in particular their setter Mikael Clegg, so we expect a very tough battle regardless of who they have on the floor.”
[SOURCE: UBC]