UBC Thunderbirds’ press release indicates displeasure with women’s volleyball nationals draw; WolfPack see no controversy

The hometown Alberta Pandas dispatched the Trinity Western Spartans of Langley 3-1 in the Canada West gold-medal game on Saturday (March 7) in Edmonton.

TRU, which was swept 3-0 by Alberta in a conference semifinal on Friday, fell 3-1 to UBC in the bronze-medal tilt on Saturday.

No. 1-ranked Alberta, No. 4 Trinity and No. 5 UBC are on the same side of the draw for nationals, with the T-Birds and Spartans scheduled to square off in quarter-final action on Friday.

UBC head coach Doug Reimer was measured with his remarks in a press release on Wednesday, noting that while playing Trinity in Round 1 is not ideal, his club could have avoided the matchup by winning its conference semifinal against the Spartans, which it dropped 3-2.

The language outside of his quotes in the UBC release indicates aggrievement.

“It was never going to be easy for the No. 5-seed UBC Thunderbirds to take home the 15th U Sports championship in program history and fifth in a decade, but the powers that be have made sure that if the ‘Birds win again in 2026, they will have done it the hard way,” the release reads.

“Little did they know, losing that bronze-medal match would have yielded a far easier draw at the national championship… The reward for whoever emerges from that brutal first-round battle? A likely matchup with Canada West champion and No. 1-seed Alberta, with the top three teams in what is clearly the best volleyball conference in the country all somehow ending up on the same side of the draw.”

Alberta is scheduled to play the No. 8 Montréal Carabins – Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec finalists (RESQ) – on Friday in the other quarter-final on that side of the draw.

Word of scheduling discontent has spread to WolfPack players.

“We’re okay with how it all shook down,” said WolfPack setter Libby Meldrum, a Canada West second-team all-star. “I think there are some other Canada West teams that aren’t happy. UBC and Trinity play each other in a quarter, which shook some people up. But seeing as there were rules in place, Chad said everything kind of went to plan as he thought it would.”

In women’s volleyball, the eight participating teams at nationals are seeded with the requirements that conference playoff results be respected, that conference champions be seeded no lower than No. 6 and that first-round conference matchups be avoided for the conference finalists, according to U Sports.

The WolfPack are having their best campaign since joining U Sports in 2005, posting a program-best regular season record, vanquishing the defending national champion Manitoba Bisons in the playoffs and reaching nationals for the first time.

Underdog status at nationals was cemented with two swift defeats in the Final Four.

“The lone wolf(pack) from the west in their half of the bracket, TRU is left to lick its wounds from the Final Four and prey on teams from lesser conferences until a potential rematch with a western superpower on the final day of the tournament,” the UBC press release reads.

The No. 7 WolfPack are slated to play the No. 2 Sherbrooke Vert et Or in quarter-final play on Friday, a 12:00 noon start at the Langley Events Centre.

The RESQ champion Vert et Or posted a 20-1 regular-season record and are pegged third in the latest U Sports Women’s Volleyball Rankings, behind No. 2 UBC and No. 1 Alberta.

“I think they play a bit of a different game than we’re used to,” WolfPack middle Myah Cressy said. “They’re very scrappy. They extend rallies. We just need to stay patient and not get frustrated if you can’t kill the ball right away.”

Added Grimm: “I don’t think they are going to beat themselves. You are going to have to beat them. And what I mean by that is they’ll extend rallies. You’ll think you have the ball on the floor and you’ll have to put it down three or four or five times.”

In the other quarter-final on the WolfPack’s side of the draw, the No. 3 Brock Badgers of St. Catharines – the Ontario University Athletics champions – will clash with the No. 6 Saint Mary’s Huskies of Halifax, the Atlantic University Sport titlists.

Grimm offered an injury update on Tuesday, noting Canada West second-team all-star Rida Erlalelitepe is expected to play on Friday.

The Turkish star was hurt in the conference semifinal last weekend and did not play in the bronze-medal match – her absence lessening WolfPack chances of victory in that tilt while improving its chances of better seeding at nationals.

Canada West has historically been the strongest women’s volleyball conference in U Sports. Of the 53 national champions crowned, 44 are Canada West teams.

UBC or Trinity has won five of the last nine national championships and 11 of the last 16, and a Canada West school has won all but two national titles in the last 20 years, facts noted in the T-Birds’ press release.

“You get the chance to play in this event and you have to be grateful more than anything,” Reimer said in the release. “You can choose to stew about the draw and get upset for three days. But we’d rather move on and get excited about playing, even if you’ve got 2,000 people cheering against you.”

by Marty Hastings

UBC Thunderbirds’ press release indicates displeasure with women’s volleyball nationals draw; WolfPack see no controversy

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