T-Birds aim to bounce back against WolfPack on Pride Night weekend

After suffering their first two losses of the season this past weekend, against the Manitoba Bisons, the UBC Thunderbirds (12-2) are right back at it this weekend against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack (10-4) in another home series.

Friday night’s match is Pride Night, one of the biggest weekends of the season for the Thunderbirds’ volleyball programs. There are giveaways throughout the night, games and other promotional booths in the War Memorial Gym lobby, and a drag show during both the women’s and men’s matches. Acacia Gray takes centre court between the second and third sets in the women’s match while Tiffany Ann Co. does the same between the second and third of the men’s.

“I think Pride Night is really important because it sets such a great tone that sport, UBC, and UBC Volleyball really want to reward and honour and celebrate diversity across the board,” said Thunderbirds head coach Doug Reimer, speaking in a UBC Women’s Volleyball Instagram video.
 

Friday also doubles as the T-Birds’ alumni night, and the many former players set to be in attendance makes the environment even more of a celebration.

On the court, the Thunderbirds remain the No. 1 ranked team in U SPORTS heading into this weekend, and are tied for the fewest losses in Canada West. The battle for seeding will be fierce in these final few weeks of the regular season, with five teams already reaching double digits in wins.

UBC faces off against another one of those five teams this weekend. Reimer knows that it won’t be an easy task for his team, and that they won’t have much margin for error.

“Being able to bring a consistent and high level of play for a longer period of time – that is the challenge against experienced teams that also have a lot of strong individuals,” he said.

One positive from this past weekend for the T-Birds was seeing a couple of their top players back out at War Memorial Gym. Olivia Furlan started at libero after missing the first two matches of 2025 and recorded a combined 28 digs, her highest single weekend total so far this season. Lucy Borowski also made her first home appearances since November 1st, notching a total of 26 kills, 15 digs and four aces over the seven sets.

While their current run of opponents is a doozy, the Thunderbirds do have the advantage of playing four of their final six regular season matches at home. The blue and gold are 19-4 at War Memorial Gym over the last two seasons.

The T-Birds and WolfPack faced off last season in the Canada West Quarterfinals, with UBC defeating their in-province opponents 2-0 in the best-of-three series. This TRU side, however, is not the same as last year’s team that needed to win on the final day of the season to sneak into the playoffs as the #8 seed.

This year, the WolfPack are 10-4 (already matching their win total from last season), and ranked No. 8 in the country. They’re the only team in the conference who rank top five in all three of kills per set, digs per set and blocks per set.

A major factor in their improvement is the play of two new outside hitters. Rida Erlalelitepe ranks fourth in Canada West in kills per set (3.6), while Maria Dancheva averages just under 2.4 kills per set and cuts an imposing figure on the court at 6’5″.

The service line could prove to be a difference-maker in this weekend’s matchup. The T-Birds continue to land aces at a high rate, managing 20 in the two matches against the Bisons last weekend. The WolfPack, meanwhile, have given up the third-fewest aces in the conference this season, behind only UBC themselves and UFV.

The first match of the Pride Night doubleheader begins at 5:30 p.m. (PT) on Friday, January 31st. The two teams will then face off again at 4:00 p.m. (PT) on Saturday, February 1st.