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