Birds aim to keep momentum going against MacEwan

VANCOUVER – After a 9-1 record to end the first semester, the Thunderbirds hoped to pick up where they left off after the break in a tough road matchup last weekend against the Saskatchewan Huskies, ranked No. 10 in the country.
 
That mission was a success, as the blue and gold took both matches while just dropping one set. That puts the T-Birds on a five-match win streak heading into a pair of battles at home against the MacEwan Griffins on Friday, January 16 and Saturday, January 17.
 
"We knew it would be a challenging weekend – the return from the break, playing a very difficult opponent, playing on the road in a hostile environment – but I think what's led to our success all season is what helped us get over the hump," reflected UBC head coach Mike Hawkins on last weekend's performances. "That's depth and a high level of skill…our defence and our transition offence games, those phases have been calling cards for us this year."
 
The depth has definitely shone through as the Thunderbirds haven't skipped a beat when they've given bigger roles to some of their younger talent. Second-year outside hitter Alex Borowski made his first start of the season last Saturday and tallied nine kills on an impressive .412 hitting percentage, while first-year libero Parker Ocampo made his third and fourth starts of his Canada West career against the Huskies and recorded a combined 17 digs.
 

On the other end of the experience spectrum, Mason Greves earned the Canada West Player of the Week honour following his 93rd and 94th career regular season matches. The fifth-year setter put up a combined 73 assists, 19 digs and seven kills on the weekend, and currently leads the conference in assists per set (10.33) while also ranking second in digs per set (2.27).
 
With the top four teams in the conference (UBC, UBC Okanagan, Trinity Western and Alberta) all sporting just one or two losses on the season, the race is extremely tight for first place in the regular season. Given that the top seed has the inside track to hosting the Canada West Final Four in the playoffs, getting every win possible in the regular season is made that much more important.
 
"It's everything, especially because we play very well at home," remarked Hawkins on the chase for the top spot. "For what we're trying to accomplish this season, at the end of the day it doesn't truly matter where we're playing, but at the same time we want to make sure we're stacking the deck in our favour every way we can.
 
"As cliché as it sounds, just us being very process-oriented and making sure we're playing good volleyball, and building upon our style of play is what we need. I think over this next stretch of matches that's going to be huge. Not looking at the standings or too far ahead, but focusing on what we need to do to get better."


 
Taking a look at the opposition for this weekend, the Griffins have had an injury-blighted campaign that's left them winless to this point.
 
After suffering injuries to captain Seth Birkholz and kills leader Fabian Breitenbach last Friday in Winnipeg, MacEwan played its most recent match with just two healthy starters from its opening day lineup – setter Kenneth Ang and middle blocker Spencer Loucks, who played out of position as an outside hitter to try and compensate for those out of the lineup.
 
The 'Birds will aim to improve their win streak beginning at 7:30 p.m. (PT) on Friday, inside War Memorial Gym. The rematch is set for 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Click here for tickets or watch the action unfold on Canada West TV.