We just had our final games of the first term and came out with two VERY important wins vs the UofS Huskies. Going into the match we were sitting at 2-6 and did not want to add any more obstacles for the second term.
The first night we came out ready to go and so did the Huskies. Going into the game the Huskies were behind us in the Canada West standings but still was not a team that we could take lightly. We came out with some great energy and playing really well in the first set and cruised to a 25-17 victory. The game got a little sloppy in the next couple sets as neither team was attacking at a high level. Sask ended up winning the next two sets and were all of a sudden up 2-1 which to most in the war memorial gym was a shocker. We knew coming into the 4th set that we had some work to do and we really needed to execute our game plan and play aggressively to come out on top. The 4th set proved to be an exciting one. Both teams exhanged points for most of the match until we were able to pull away slightly after 20. Chris Klassen game into the game as a blocking sub and got a HUGE block for us to give us a the advantage. After exchanging a few more points we snuck out with a 25-23 with a big hammer block by Joco and Springs. (Joe Cordonier and Milo Warren)
Going into the 5th set we really put together a great effort and played a nice 5th set. We came out and earned a 3 point lead although the huskies showed a bit of fight and clawed back to tie the frame at 4's. we went on an 11-2 run to close out the game highlighted by Klassen again who came in and put on a serving and play making clinic to propel the birds to victory.Springs led us in kills the with 16 kills while Demijan Savija tallied 12. Cary Brett posted another nice stat line for the T-Birds in the middle with nine kills on .533 hitting to go along with one solo and two block assists.
After the game we were fortunate enough to come out with the win but again an inconsistent performance. We knew that going into saturday we needed a tougher performance
Saturday night we entered the match knowing it would be our last of the first semester and we really wanted to go into the break on a positive note. We also wanted to prove we could put together a more consistent match. When it as all said an done we came out with a 3-1 win. The match was for sure more consistent then the prior but we still had some opportunities to be a very efficient squad that we missed out. Demijan Savija had a huge night for us, pounding home 23 kills with a 44% attack efficiency which is statistically his best night as a Thunderbird. Offensively most of the team was performing well. We hit above .300% in every set but the second.
We now have the Christmas break and will resume play in January. The month of December will offer a rest from competition but we will still be training hard during the exam period. Look forward to seeing everyone back at War Memorial for our next home games Jan 21/22
Thanks for reading and happy holidays!
-Team volleyhype
Friday, December 3, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
two wins, two loses
Hello thunderbird fans.
It has been two weeks since our last update (sorry) and quite a bit has happend in those two weeks. Nov 12/13th we were in Winnipeg, Manitoba for a weekend series vs UofW Wesmen. Going into the weekend we were still a win less team with an 0-4 record but felt we had been improving every game. PLaying any Manitoba team in our conference is always tough, especially if it is on the road. We knew in order to be successful we would have to play at a consistent level the whole way through. After watching the womens team take two 3-1 wins from the Wesmen we followed in suit as we also won both matches 3-1. Both nights were fairly similar with our left side Ben Chow and Milo Warren picking up a large number of kills. All the specific details can be found at www.gothunderbirds.ca
This past weekend was a chance for us to keep our winning streak alive as we returned to Manitoba. This time we were matched up with the UofM Bisons. Friday night started of great for us. We came out with some unbelievable energy in a gym that felt empty. We really dictated the match in that first set, winning the battle on both the offensive and defensive side. Our lineup again saw Joe Cordonier playing rightside and this giving room for Yari Kozel to get the start in his hometown of Winnipeg. After exchanging blows for most of the game it was the Bisons who came out on top with a 3-1 win. The match saw many ups and downs as neither team seemed to have a consistent level of play. Down the stretch we were unable to finish sets or play at the level we needed to after 20.
The 2nd night, the Birds came out strong again, motivated to leave the Peg with a W. They took the first set led by high level attacking from Milo "Springs" Warren. The Bisons evened it up at 1, and went on to take the lead 2-1 after a hard fought 3rd set. The Birds would not give up and tied it up after a tight 26-24 4th set. Unfortunately they ran out of gas and lost the 5th in a heartbreaker. The level of play by the Tbirds was much greater on the 2nd night, but the Bisons stepped up even more taking home the sweep. The birds return to Van City to finish off the first semester against the Sask Huskies at the historic War Memorial Gym Nov 26 and 27.
Be sure to try to make it out to these matches as they will be our last contests befor the christmas break.
On Friday The Women play at 1pm followed by the men at 3 pm
Saturday we return to the regular times with the women starting at 6pm followed by the men at 8pm
see you there!!
Thanks for reading
-Team VolleyHype
It has been two weeks since our last update (sorry) and quite a bit has happend in those two weeks. Nov 12/13th we were in Winnipeg, Manitoba for a weekend series vs UofW Wesmen. Going into the weekend we were still a win less team with an 0-4 record but felt we had been improving every game. PLaying any Manitoba team in our conference is always tough, especially if it is on the road. We knew in order to be successful we would have to play at a consistent level the whole way through. After watching the womens team take two 3-1 wins from the Wesmen we followed in suit as we also won both matches 3-1. Both nights were fairly similar with our left side Ben Chow and Milo Warren picking up a large number of kills. All the specific details can be found at www.gothunderbirds.ca
This past weekend was a chance for us to keep our winning streak alive as we returned to Manitoba. This time we were matched up with the UofM Bisons. Friday night started of great for us. We came out with some unbelievable energy in a gym that felt empty. We really dictated the match in that first set, winning the battle on both the offensive and defensive side. Our lineup again saw Joe Cordonier playing rightside and this giving room for Yari Kozel to get the start in his hometown of Winnipeg. After exchanging blows for most of the game it was the Bisons who came out on top with a 3-1 win. The match saw many ups and downs as neither team seemed to have a consistent level of play. Down the stretch we were unable to finish sets or play at the level we needed to after 20.
The 2nd night, the Birds came out strong again, motivated to leave the Peg with a W. They took the first set led by high level attacking from Milo "Springs" Warren. The Bisons evened it up at 1, and went on to take the lead 2-1 after a hard fought 3rd set. The Birds would not give up and tied it up after a tight 26-24 4th set. Unfortunately they ran out of gas and lost the 5th in a heartbreaker. The level of play by the Tbirds was much greater on the 2nd night, but the Bisons stepped up even more taking home the sweep. The birds return to Van City to finish off the first semester against the Sask Huskies at the historic War Memorial Gym Nov 26 and 27.
Be sure to try to make it out to these matches as they will be our last contests befor the christmas break.
On Friday The Women play at 1pm followed by the men at 3 pm
Saturday we return to the regular times with the women starting at 6pm followed by the men at 8pm
see you there!!
Thanks for reading
-Team VolleyHype
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Weekend #2 vs GBV
Hey Everyone,
Wow it seems as though the first term is just flying by. We spent tons of time preparing for the season with a lot of open gyms in August and our trip to Korea and all of September/October and now all of a sudden we are 4 games into the regular season. I almost forgot about how the regular season works. You put about a week’s worth of preparation into your opponent while continuously working on things on our side of the net and then you have a duel on the weekend. With almost no time to think about what happened, what went well and reflect on the matches BAM its Monday again and we are getting ready for our next challenge.
As most of you probably know we played UofA this past weekend at War Memorial and had some decent games but are still searching for our first win. On Friday night we came out of the gates pretty fired up and ready to push against UofA. They have the number one rank in the country and have been a highly ranked team in Canada for as long as I can remember. The first set felt like we put all that aside, we came out and were just hungry for the ball on both offense and defense. After the first set win which surely shocked the bears they came out and won the next three sets. Some consistency issues on our side of the net plus lots of changes were being made again. From the match I think the team was starting to realize that if we come out and go after it, we can push any team in our league and if we grasp that consistently and get everyone going we can be a very powerful group.
Saturday was another chance for us to put that mentality to the test. Again we found ourselves fired up and ready to play right off the bat. We came out and won the first two sets, I definitely wouldn’t say with ease but we had a good demeanor on the court and we were making plays on a consistent basis. Credit to the bears who came back and ended up winning the match in 5 sets but certainly not without a battle. Even when we gave up some runs of 2-3 points we battled back and had great support from the all the changes that were being made again on our side of the net. Joe Cordonier finished the match for us as our right side and Robert Bennet came in to replace Milo Warren. The feel from the match was definitely positive. We again didn’t have our whole team going and had to make some unorthodox changes and tangoed with the top team in the country. We now sit at 0-4, which on paper is not a good record but our team has been growing each game and have been pushed hard by TWU and UofA and we have responded. Those are some of the top teams in the country as of right now and we know what it’s going to take to stay with them and how much harder we need to push every day in practice to surpass them.
We had some UNREAL fan support at our matches this weekend and thank you very much to those who came out or watched online and anybody out there who has our backs right now. We are still searching for our first W and we travel to Winnipeg this weekend to get it.
Thanks for reading
-Team VolleyHype
Wow it seems as though the first term is just flying by. We spent tons of time preparing for the season with a lot of open gyms in August and our trip to Korea and all of September/October and now all of a sudden we are 4 games into the regular season. I almost forgot about how the regular season works. You put about a week’s worth of preparation into your opponent while continuously working on things on our side of the net and then you have a duel on the weekend. With almost no time to think about what happened, what went well and reflect on the matches BAM its Monday again and we are getting ready for our next challenge.
As most of you probably know we played UofA this past weekend at War Memorial and had some decent games but are still searching for our first win. On Friday night we came out of the gates pretty fired up and ready to push against UofA. They have the number one rank in the country and have been a highly ranked team in Canada for as long as I can remember. The first set felt like we put all that aside, we came out and were just hungry for the ball on both offense and defense. After the first set win which surely shocked the bears they came out and won the next three sets. Some consistency issues on our side of the net plus lots of changes were being made again. From the match I think the team was starting to realize that if we come out and go after it, we can push any team in our league and if we grasp that consistently and get everyone going we can be a very powerful group.
Saturday was another chance for us to put that mentality to the test. Again we found ourselves fired up and ready to play right off the bat. We came out and won the first two sets, I definitely wouldn’t say with ease but we had a good demeanor on the court and we were making plays on a consistent basis. Credit to the bears who came back and ended up winning the match in 5 sets but certainly not without a battle. Even when we gave up some runs of 2-3 points we battled back and had great support from the all the changes that were being made again on our side of the net. Joe Cordonier finished the match for us as our right side and Robert Bennet came in to replace Milo Warren. The feel from the match was definitely positive. We again didn’t have our whole team going and had to make some unorthodox changes and tangoed with the top team in the country. We now sit at 0-4, which on paper is not a good record but our team has been growing each game and have been pushed hard by TWU and UofA and we have responded. Those are some of the top teams in the country as of right now and we know what it’s going to take to stay with them and how much harder we need to push every day in practice to surpass them.
We had some UNREAL fan support at our matches this weekend and thank you very much to those who came out or watched online and anybody out there who has our backs right now. We are still searching for our first W and we travel to Winnipeg this weekend to get it.
Thanks for reading
-Team VolleyHype
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Opening Weekend
The Tbirds opened up their season at War Memorial on October 29th against the Trinity Western Spartans. The Tbirds knew it would be a tough match up as the Spartans were the defending national silver medalists going in, but nonetheless, the Tbirds were ready to play. The jacked war memorial faithful got their moneys worth as UBC surprised everyone with the freshest sleeveless swag in the conference. Some tbirds looked like they belonged on a football field and not a volleyball court (a slight hyperbole). From the get go the Spartans came out firing and UBC couldn’t find a way to push back. They were serving and passing at a high level, while the Tbirds failed to find a rhythm all night. Although the end result was a 3-0 loss, each set got better for the birds leaving some bright spots to look forward for the following night. Demijan Savija had a great night for the birds as he racked up 15 kills in the three short sets. Plagued by service errors and serve reception breakdowns at bad moments the t birds were never able to put any kind of pressure on TWU who strolled to their first win of the season.
Saturday brought a more balanced effort from the thunderbirds going into the match. The team had a bit more composure entering the match and wanted to really show UBC fans a better show. The birds took the first set after holding the lead for most of the set and then exchanging some late blows with TWU to come away bye the narrow margin of 25-23. The following three sets went to the Spartans although there was more flow to the UBC offense and defense. Serving was dramatically better than the previous night and it seemed like some of the nerves had settled. Although we lost the match and opened the season 0-2 there is lots to be gained from the weekend. New comers such as wing spikers Ben Chow and Milo Warren and Ian Perry to the setting position have experienced their first taste or CIS action.
Full Match recaps can be found at www.gothunderbirds.ca
Thanks again to all those who came out to the matches on Friday and Saturday. The support is greatly appreciated and the atmosphere created in the gym was phenomenal.
Next up for the Thunderbirds is the UofA golden bears on Nov 5/6th @ war memorial gym. First serve is at 8pm
thanks for reading
-Team VolleyHype
Saturday brought a more balanced effort from the thunderbirds going into the match. The team had a bit more composure entering the match and wanted to really show UBC fans a better show. The birds took the first set after holding the lead for most of the set and then exchanging some late blows with TWU to come away bye the narrow margin of 25-23. The following three sets went to the Spartans although there was more flow to the UBC offense and defense. Serving was dramatically better than the previous night and it seemed like some of the nerves had settled. Although we lost the match and opened the season 0-2 there is lots to be gained from the weekend. New comers such as wing spikers Ben Chow and Milo Warren and Ian Perry to the setting position have experienced their first taste or CIS action.
Full Match recaps can be found at www.gothunderbirds.ca
Thanks again to all those who came out to the matches on Friday and Saturday. The support is greatly appreciated and the atmosphere created in the gym was phenomenal.
Next up for the Thunderbirds is the UofA golden bears on Nov 5/6th @ war memorial gym. First serve is at 8pm
thanks for reading
-Team VolleyHype
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Battle with the Pack
Hello Thunderbird fans, friends and family
The team just finished a weekend series of exhibition matches with the TRU Wolfpack. This was our first taste of CIS action.
Our first match on Friday night was a particularly special one as it was the return of Ben Chow to Fleetwood Park secondary. Although this gym was not our "home gym" with Ben on our side we definitely had the crowds support. After somewhat of a back and forth affair we were able to come out on top in 5 sets. The game did have its ups and downs and was filled with line up changes. Offensively, we had a well balanced effort which continues to be one of the recurring themes with our group.Wing spikers Ben Chow and Milo Warren finished the match with a dozen kills while corrector Demijan Savija was close behind with 11 rally ending smashes. Joe Cordonier and Cary Brett were also extremely active spikers. Cary finished with 6 kills and joco finished had 7. Current UBC libero Ian Perry took his skills to the front row and ran the offense for the t-birds in the 4th and 5th sets. Perry maintained composure and looked comfortable as a setter and led the thunderbirds to their most convincing set wins. Many things can be taken from this match, both positive and negatives but our group knows we will need to find more consistency in order to stay successful.
On Saturday we returned to War Memorial gym for the second match of the series. With both teams looking to improve on their previous nights performance it was the Pack that showed it as they took the match 3-0. The energy coming from our side was low and TRU was able to execute offensively. Nathan shuck started on the rightside instead of Demijan Savija and Ian Perry took over the setting role in the 3rd set. It seemed as though we could never get the ball rolling and take control of the match. Our next meeting with TRU will not be til the end of our regular season when we travel to Kamloops for our final season series.
As a team we will need to continue to move forward and continuously improve throughout the next couple weeks. Our home opener is in two weeks time when we play the TWU spartans on october 29th and 30th.
Thanks for reading
-Team Volleyhype
The team just finished a weekend series of exhibition matches with the TRU Wolfpack. This was our first taste of CIS action.
Our first match on Friday night was a particularly special one as it was the return of Ben Chow to Fleetwood Park secondary. Although this gym was not our "home gym" with Ben on our side we definitely had the crowds support. After somewhat of a back and forth affair we were able to come out on top in 5 sets. The game did have its ups and downs and was filled with line up changes. Offensively, we had a well balanced effort which continues to be one of the recurring themes with our group.Wing spikers Ben Chow and Milo Warren finished the match with a dozen kills while corrector Demijan Savija was close behind with 11 rally ending smashes. Joe Cordonier and Cary Brett were also extremely active spikers. Cary finished with 6 kills and joco finished had 7. Current UBC libero Ian Perry took his skills to the front row and ran the offense for the t-birds in the 4th and 5th sets. Perry maintained composure and looked comfortable as a setter and led the thunderbirds to their most convincing set wins. Many things can be taken from this match, both positive and negatives but our group knows we will need to find more consistency in order to stay successful.
On Saturday we returned to War Memorial gym for the second match of the series. With both teams looking to improve on their previous nights performance it was the Pack that showed it as they took the match 3-0. The energy coming from our side was low and TRU was able to execute offensively. Nathan shuck started on the rightside instead of Demijan Savija and Ian Perry took over the setting role in the 3rd set. It seemed as though we could never get the ball rolling and take control of the match. Our next meeting with TRU will not be til the end of our regular season when we travel to Kamloops for our final season series.
As a team we will need to continue to move forward and continuously improve throughout the next couple weeks. Our home opener is in two weeks time when we play the TWU spartans on october 29th and 30th.
Thanks for reading
-Team Volleyhype
Friday, October 1, 2010
HELLO UBC FANS!!!
Hello everyone,
It has been awhile since our last post but I assure you everything is going well in Vancouver. We have been training pretty hard for the last couple weeks and are finally starting to settle in to a good training routine since we have been back from Korea.
We have had a couple big changes within the team and for those of you who have been Thunderbird fans for around 5 years will surely remember this guy. Bones aka Andrew Bonner has joined our team as a player coach. For those who don't know about Bones I highly recommend trying to get your hands on some game tape of his and those who remember him, im sure your eyes light up just seeing his name. He is arguably the most intense and competitive player to ever play at UBC or even in the CIS and he brings a wide range of things to our team. The impact he has had on our team in his short time with us is great and he will continue to push us everyday.* I will try to elaborate on his impact in a later post.
The month of October is a super busy one for most CIS volleyball teams since it is the last month before the regular season starts and teams are going hard sometimes seven days a week with daily practices and weekend exhibition matches.
We will be battling against the TRU wolfpack on October 15th and 16th. The match on the 15th will take place at Fleetwood Park Seconday @ 7pm (7940 - 156th St. Surrey, B.C. This will be a "return home" match for young swoll aka Ben Chow and the event is being played to raise funds for their athletics programs. Tickets are 5$ for adults and 3$ for students. On the 16th the Thunderbirds will return to War Memorial to compete against TRU again @ 6pm.
Our home opener and regular season kicks off on October 29th vs. TWU. If anyone reading this our someone you know would be interested in attending that match please contact me. We are looking to get as many volleyball enthusiasts out to the match to support the UBC Men!
my e-mail is...blairb1@interchange.ubc.ca
Thanks for reading
-Team VolleyHype
It has been awhile since our last post but I assure you everything is going well in Vancouver. We have been training pretty hard for the last couple weeks and are finally starting to settle in to a good training routine since we have been back from Korea.
We have had a couple big changes within the team and for those of you who have been Thunderbird fans for around 5 years will surely remember this guy. Bones aka Andrew Bonner has joined our team as a player coach. For those who don't know about Bones I highly recommend trying to get your hands on some game tape of his and those who remember him, im sure your eyes light up just seeing his name. He is arguably the most intense and competitive player to ever play at UBC or even in the CIS and he brings a wide range of things to our team. The impact he has had on our team in his short time with us is great and he will continue to push us everyday.* I will try to elaborate on his impact in a later post.
The month of October is a super busy one for most CIS volleyball teams since it is the last month before the regular season starts and teams are going hard sometimes seven days a week with daily practices and weekend exhibition matches.
We will be battling against the TRU wolfpack on October 15th and 16th. The match on the 15th will take place at Fleetwood Park Seconday @ 7pm (7940 - 156th St. Surrey, B.C. This will be a "return home" match for young swoll aka Ben Chow and the event is being played to raise funds for their athletics programs. Tickets are 5$ for adults and 3$ for students. On the 16th the Thunderbirds will return to War Memorial to compete against TRU again @ 6pm.
Our home opener and regular season kicks off on October 29th vs. TWU. If anyone reading this our someone you know would be interested in attending that match please contact me. We are looking to get as many volleyball enthusiasts out to the match to support the UBC Men!
my e-mail is...blairb1@interchange.ubc.ca
Thanks for reading
-Team VolleyHype
Thursday, September 16, 2010
T-Birds have returned
Hey everyone,
We have returned to Canada and have been back at UBC for the past few days. Many of us are struggling with the effects of the time change and have been waking up around 6am which is not bad thing as it gives us more time to catch up on the school we have missed. The team will enjoy a few more days rest and continue our pre season training come Monday.
In other volleyball news be sure to follow the Canadian Mens National team as they are one week away from competing in the 2010 World championships in Italy. They are currently traveling around Europe playing in various exhibition matches. You can follow along with updates and blog entries at www.volleyball.ca
thanks for reading
-Team VolleyHype
We have returned to Canada and have been back at UBC for the past few days. Many of us are struggling with the effects of the time change and have been waking up around 6am which is not bad thing as it gives us more time to catch up on the school we have missed. The team will enjoy a few more days rest and continue our pre season training come Monday.
In other volleyball news be sure to follow the Canadian Mens National team as they are one week away from competing in the 2010 World championships in Italy. They are currently traveling around Europe playing in various exhibition matches. You can follow along with updates and blog entries at www.volleyball.ca
thanks for reading
-Team VolleyHype
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