KELOWNA, B.C. – The UBC Okanagan Heat men's volleyball team returns to the Canada West playoffs this week as they get set to take on the Manitoba Bisons in a best-of-three series in the conference's play-in round.
Game one of the series between the ninth-seeded Heat and eighth-seeded Bisons is set for Thursday, February 20 at 4 p.m. Pacific with game two happening on Friday, February 21 at 5:30 p.m. Pacific. A game three, if necessary, would be played on Saturday, February 22 at 2 p.m. Pacific.
All three games will be broadcast live on
CanadaWest.tv powered by BioSteel.
The Heat, who will be making their first post-season appearance since the 2021-22 season, are coming off a remarkable turnaround campaign. A year after winning just three times, UBCO roared out of the gates under new head coach
Scott Koskie and wound up finishing the season with a 9-11 record, tripling their win total from last season.
As for the Bisons, they posted an identical record to the Heat, winning nine of their 20 conference games but earned home-court advantage after earning two more points than UBCO during the regular season. A year after recording 13 wins and losing out in the quarter-finals, Manitoba heads into this post-season having lost five of their last seven games, with their only victories coming against last-place MacEwan.
The Heat have been led all season by the outstanding play of middle
Thys Weststrate and setter
Zach van Geel. Weststrate, a Kelowna, B.C., native, ranked second in Canada West for both hitting percentage at .451 and for blocks per set at 1.16. His 3.1 points per set led his team while his 18 service aces were second most among Heat players.
Meanwhile, van Geel, one of only two players on the roster with playoff experience for the Heat, is coming off his best-ever season at UBCO. The dynamic setter posted a career high 639 assists and his 8.75 assists per set was fourth-best in the conference. He also added 35 kills and a team-best 24 aces to his strong all-around game.
On the outside,
Seba Manuel and
Lucas Woelders both had strong seasons with Manuel leading the team in kills with 185 and Woelders wasn't far behind with 152. Both will look to have big weekends against the Bisons to help the team advance to the next round.
Across the net, the Heat will need to be solid in reception against a strong-serving Bisons squad. Manitoba led all teams in Canada West with nearly 2.5 aces per set, powered by the duo of Karil Dadash Adeh and Jordon Heppner, who were first and second in the conference for aces per set.
Dadash Adeh also led the team in kills with 165 while Spencer Grahame chipped in with 152.
Defensively, Jonah Dueck provides the blocking prowess for the Bisons, finishing fourth in Canada West in blocks per set at 1.07.
The Heat and Bisons played each other twice in the regular season back in mid-January in Kelowna. The two clubs fittingly split their two matchups, with UBCO winning in four sets after Manitoba won the opening of their weekend doubleheader in three sets.
The winner of this matchup will advance to the Canada West quarter-finals and take on the top-seeded Winnipeg Wesmen in a best-of-three series.
