Volley-Bears set to host Thunderbirds

Aaron Yeo

With the postseason on the horizon, the defending national champion Golden Bears volleyball squad have only one thing on their mind as they close out the regular season: finishing on a high note. The Green and Gold look to accomplish that this weekend in their final regular season series, as the UBC Thunderbirds come to town looking to put a damper on the Bears' plans to host a playoff round.

With the Canada West playoff picture still cloudy, the Bears have clinched at least a postseason berth, but still have work to do if they hope to secure a home playoff date — something head coach Terry Danyluk's team can control with a pair of victories over the T-Birds this weekend.

"This is a really important weekend for us for placing, and if we want any shot at finishing first, we've got to win both games and hope someone beats Calgary," Danyluk explained.

Alberta can put the pressure on the Calgary Dinos for first place with a sweep, but the Dinos are still in the driver's seat with two games in hand on the Bears. The Bears can, however, assure themselves of, at the very least, a first-round home playoff date with a pair of victories over UBC.

"Finishing first would say a lot this year in our conference just because it has been so close. Mathematically, there are still four teams that could finish in first place, so for us this weekend is the first thing we have to think about and wherever the cards land after that, we'll deal with it."

Saturday night will be Senior Night for a trio of Golden Bears, as fifth-year players Mike DeRocco, Craig Proudfoot, and Thomas Jarmoc will all take to the court for their final regular season games in the Green and Gold.

"Those three guys have been major contributors for us in their time here — Tom straight out of high school, and Craig and Mike transferring from Grant MacEwan. They're guys that are different types of players, different personalities, but they've all contributed a great deal both on and off the court to the program's success."

Like this past weekend when the Bears basketball squad honoured their pair of fifth-year seniors, the weekend series will give all three players an opportunity to showcase their game on a night dedicated to their contributions.

"Like every year when players leave us, all we can hope is that their experiences have been great and that the next phase in their life, we've helped make them ready for," Danyluk said.

The Bears and T-Birds take to the court Friday night at the Main Gym, with game-time slated for 8 p.m. The second game of the weekend double-header gets underway Saturday night at 6:30 p.m.