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

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

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