T-Birds net national volleyball crown
Team sweeps defending champion Trinity Western to end 35-year championship drought
Kerry MacDonald actually enjoyed being scrutinized a little extra going through airport security this time.
“They wanted to know about all the metal in the bottom of my bag,” the UBC Thunderbirds men’s volleyball coach said about his trip home from the U Sports nationals on Monday morning via Pearson International Airport in Toronto.
“They ended up pulling out all the extra medals. I explained to them that, when you win a championship, you get to bring some things home with you.”
MacDonald and his charges have something they’ll gladly declare: they’re Canadian champions for the first time since 1983. UBC defeated the two-time defending Canadian champion Trinity Western Spartans 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 27-25) in the national final on Sunday at McMaster University in Hamilton.
Trinity Western was looking for their fifth title in eight seasons and hoping for the first three-peat since Winnipeg won four straight from 1971-74.
As luck would have it, they were on the same flight home as the T-Birds on Monday.
“We just rolled up to the gate and they were here. We certainly weren’t expecting it. It’s a little awkward,” said MacDonald.
The coach did have plenty of things to distract himself with instead. He says he had “never received that many text messages and emails in a 12-hour span. … I haven’t gotten back to most of them.”
“We’re lucky. We have great alumni and they really connected with our team,” said MacDonald, who took the helm of the T-Birds in June 2016. He replaced Richard Schick, who “parted ways” with UBC after 12 seasons.
“Winning means a lot. The 35-year drought weighed on a lot of people’s minds. UBC has had some phenomenal teams, but we hadn’t been able to get a championship again until now.”
The drought meant enough to MacDonald that, when it came time to decide on a combination for the lock on the volleyball team’s room at UBC, he opted for 1-9-8-3.
“We’ll be changing that now, obviously,” he said.
Trinity Western, behind national player of the year Adam Schriemer, were the top seeds at nationals. They finish the season 42-3. Before Sunday, they had dropped a regular season matchup on the road to the Brandon Bobcats in November and an encounter at home to UBC in February.
They won a return match at UBC the next night.
The loss on Sunday snapped a 21-match playoff winning streak. Trinity Western had won three straight Canada West crowns, as well as the two U Sports championships, over that time.
Meanwhile, Trinity Western hadn’t been swept in 50 matches. The last time it happened was Jan. 7, 2017, versus the visiting Saskatchewan Huskies.
UBC were the No. 3 seeds at McMaster. They had lost to Alberta Golden Bears in the Canada West semifinals, and then defeated the Winnipeg Wesmen for the third and final spot out of the league to nationals.
The T-Birds beat Alberta 3-1 (25-17, 25-18, 22-25, 25-20) in the national semifinals on Saturday.
“Ben (Josephson) has put together a great program at Trinity Western,” MacDonald said of the Spartans’ head coach. “We’re happy that we got to play them for a championship.
“They’re going to be as good again next year, if not better. They’re going to sustain. They always do. They’ve set the bar for other programs in this country.
“We sold out their gym this year. They sold out our gym. It’s great for volleyball. And this will only help that.”
Schriemer, a setter, was one of two fifth-year players on the Trinity Western roster. UBC lists five fifthyear players, including tournament all-star Irvan Brar.
UBC setter Byron Keturakis was named the tournament’s most valuable player.
“It still hasn’t set in quite yet. I think, with the buzz in the air around school and people getting excited there, it will probably sink in when we get home,” Brar said Monday morning from the airport.