Revenge of the ’Birds
“It ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.”
Rocky Balboa’s words ring ever so true for the UBC women’s volleyball team and their season. Having walked all over the opposition in 2015, the ’Birds had flaunted an impressive 11-1 record going into their winter break, but were halted in their tracks by a pair of losses to mid-table team, the Brandon University Bobcats. Their second and third losses of the season came after a restful bye-week and the team was yet to fight the rest of the top five teams in the conference. The T-Birds had to double down and battle hard in their last few regular season games.
The T-Birds passed their test by fire — finishing fourth with a conference record of 17-7 — and made it into the playoffs. There was no doubt that head coach Doug Reimer and the team could pull it off — the women’s volleyball team is no joke. Reimer led the ’Birds to six straight national wins, establishing a Canadian hegemony on the West Coast. They have since fallen from grace after the University of Manitoba Bisons ended their championship winning spree two years ago and after the University of Montreal Carabins defeated the ’Birds in last year’s CIS quarter-finals — their first quarter-final loss in 10 years. But they are still a force to be reckoned in the Canada West playoffs and it would be dangerous to take them for granted.
Quarter-finals
The Thunderbirds are now slated to the Canada West Quarter-final match this weekend, playing a best-of-three series against their nemesis (drumroll) — the Brandon Bobcats. This is the only team in the Canada West, except first-placed Okanagan Heat, to beat the ’Birds in both of their matches. The Bobcats are a formidable team. Donata Huebert, the Bobcats’ libero and a dig leader in the Canada West, repeatedly kept the game in the Bobcats’ favor with very consistent play and life-saving digs. The team is solid enough to pose a threat to the Thunderbirds 2015-2016 campaign. But the Bobcats pretty much kicked the ’Birds while they were down. Danielle Brisebois — who is an attacking leader, not just in the Thunderbirds team, but in the entire Canada West with 289 total kills this season and 3.85 kills per set — was completely absent from that game and due to an ankle sprain, outside hitter Juliana Kaufmanis played less than usual. The T-Bird’s were also coming off of a six-week holiday and definitely were not expecting such a rude wake-up call. Judging by the ’Birds recovery this season and their final conference record of 17-7 as opposed to the Bobcats’ 15-9, the T-Birds seem poised to take the series. It will be a long and brutal series that will probably go all the way to the third game and the Bobcats will not be sitting back, waiting for the ’Birds to sweep them away. They will be giving the game all that they have got — but so will the ’Birds.
The Thunderbirds will battle the Brandon University Bobcats on Friday, February 26 and Saturday, February 27 at 7 p.m. in the War Memorial Gym and then proceed to play on Sunday, February 28 at 2 p.m. if necessary.
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