January 29th, 2009
Brandon, MB
This weekend the Spartans travel to snowy, cold, barren Brandon to take on a hot Bobcat Men's Volleyball Team. Two weeks ago the Brandon Bobcats were left for dead after two convincing defeats in Kamloops to the TRU Wolfpack (3-0, 3-1). Following that week the talk was they were fading and their two spot fall in the rankings supported that talk with action from the pollsters. This past weekend the Bobcats regrouped and pulled off a dominant sweep of the then #3 ranked Calgary Dinos (3-0, 3-1) and put themselves right back into the Canada West mix log jamming up the 4-6 spot with UBC and the Spartans at 8-6.
As expected this Canada West season has been tight with many big upsets and tight games along the way. The only thing for certain at this point in the season is that the Bears have won the League title and will host the Final Four. Every other playoff spot is completely up for grabs. Heading into this weekend around the league UBC (8-6) is in Winnipeg (7-7), TRU (10-6) is at Calgary (11-5) and the Spartans (8-6) are at Brandon (8-6). All three match ups are exciting to watch and have huge implications.
As for the Spartans this weekend presents a great opportunity to play in a playoff type atmosphere in a "dress rehearsal." Going into Brandon trying to take 2 of 3 is the way the Spartans need to approach the weekend trying to get into the right mentality. Ideally in a playoff series you would like to avoid the deciding match and get things done in the first two nights but with the way things are looking in the league this year that may not happen in any match up in playoffs.
Brandon is a left side heavy team in that they set Paul Sanderson and Kevin Miller a lot of volume on the left. Miller is a big jumper with a bit of an unorthodox arm swing which makes him very difficult to block. He hits from very high and has a lot of angles available to him. Paul Sanderson is arguably the best left side player in the conference if not the best overall player in Canada West period. He is the toughest server in the conference, doesn't make a lot of errors attacking and passes very well. He really is a complete left side player and a statistical juggernaut. If there were a fantasy volleyball league Sanderson would be every owners dream. Leading Canada West in aces (.91/g) and points (6.21/g) while being second in kills (5.00/g). He has proven himself as one of the most dominant players in the conference in just two years. One of the reasons for Sanderson's success is the ability of 5th year setter Andrew Korol. The Brandon offense is one of the most efficient in the conference sitting second to Alberta at 30.3% for the season. Korol's ability to move the ball, make gutsy choices and be deceptive have allowed Brandon to have a lot of offensive success. The final piece to the offensive puzzle for Brandon is Joel Small who at 6'9 is not at all. Joel spent this summer training with the senior national team in Winnipeg and the improvements can be seen in his play this Canada West season. He is big and jumps well which makes him both a dangerous blocker and attacker. Small is 2nd in the conference in blocks (1.24/g) and third in attack efficiency (44.8%).
In order to slow down the Bobcat offense the Spartans will have to block solidly and defend the ball like crazy. Brandon does not make a lot of errors and make their opponents play out the rallies, much the same the Spartans do. It will be a battle to see which team can dig the ball with quality and run transition that will decide the fate of where playoffs will be hosted for these two teams. The second determining factor for this weekend's matches will be the battle of first contact. Both teams possess explosive serving potential. The Bobcats are a little more consistent in their serving toughness but as last weekend showed the Spartans have a lot to offer from the baseline as well.
All in all it looks to be a slugfest in snowy-cold Brandon.
Match times go 8pm Manitoba time both Friday & Saturday.
The matches will be webcast at www.twuspartans.com if you would like to watch the matches.
Go Spartans!
2012 CIS National Champs
Friday, January 30, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Senior Weekend: Chaim Schalk
January 22nd, 2009
Langley, BC
This weekend marks the final home league weekend for the 2008-2009 Spartans and potentially the final home weekend for 5th year senior setter Chaim Schalk.
Chaim came to TWU following in his brothers' footsteps. Out of high school Chaim attended Red Deer College and won two CCAA National Championships with the Kings. Just as his brothers Jaben and Seth before him. Chaim was a fantastic college player and came to TWU to further his volleyball career at the CIS level and earn his degree in Education.
The tallest of the Schalks, Chaim's role his first year was to back up would be CIS Player of the Year Josh Howatson at the setting position. As fate would have it the injury bug hit the 2006-2007 Spartans with both starting middles Doug Van Spronsen and Clayton Peters going down with injuries (knee & back respectively). In a much talked about move, then Head Coach Ron Pike, moved arguably the best setter in the country to middle and Chaim took over the reins as the starting setter for the remainder of the season. The move was based on the philosophy of putting the team's best players on the floor in the most productive alignment.
Chaim more than just took to the starting setting role, he excelled at it leading the offense and the Spartans to a 3rd place finish in Canada West and a six set sweep of the Saskatchewan Huskies in the first round of the playoffs earning a trip to the Final Four in Edmonton. The Spartans matched up with the second seed Winnipeg Wesmen in the Canada West semi and came out victors earning the right to play the UBC T-Birds who upset the top seeded host Alberta Bears.
The Canada West final was arguably the best match of the season for the Spartans as they dominated from start to finish including a 25-9 second set victory on route to a 3-1 decision. The victory marked TWU's first every Canada West title.
The next step for Schalk and the Spartans was the 2007 CIS National Championships in Hamilton, Ontario. The first round saw the Spartans play the host McMaster Marauders. After dropping the first two sets the Spartans stormed back to win in five emotional sets earning their fourth consecutive national semi final appearance.
Alas the Alberta Bears proved the better team as TWU fell in five epic sets and lost the chance to defend their National Title. To the Spartans credit they responded and beat the T-Birds 3-0 for the bronze medal and their fourth consecutive national medal. Chaim performed brilliantly in the CIS championship and his experiences in Hamilton would serve him well as he headed into his fourth year and first full year as starting setter.
In that off-season long time Spartan Head Coach Ron Pike would step down and former Spartan setter and assistant coach Ben Josephson would be named head coach. Coach Josephson would be very pleased to have a veteran and proven setter in Chaim to lead a mixed group of young and old Spartans in his first campaign.
At Christmas the Spartans were sitting 4-4 and had a couple tough losses. In an attempt to shake things up and following the recent trend of Spartan setters playing other positions Chaim would move to right side for the second semester. Chaim is an amazing volleyball player and his performance on the right side would prove this as he was a very effective attacker for TWU helping the Spartans land their 8th straight playoff appearance. The 07-08 season would end in Winnipeg to the defending National Champion Wesmen through no fault of Schalks.
In the off seasons Chaim plays a lot of beach volleyball where overall skill is key to success. In the 2008 National Beach Championships Chaim and partner Tim Gourlay of the Alberta Bears won the bronze medal and his performance at the tournament would earn him a tryout for Team Canada Beach.
Back on the hard court Chaim was named captain for his senior season along with his great friend Andrew Hawkes. The two are the only 4th or 5th year members of the 08-09 team and their skill, leaderhsip and experience would be needed as the Spartans took to Canada West play.
So far this season Chaim is playing the best volleyball of his career. He has set amazingly well with many young weapons. He has also been called upon to hit one rotation each set as second year setter Ben Ball delivers the ball. This rotation pattern takes full advantage of all that Chaim has to offer the Spartans. In a match with the Manitoba Bisons Chaim put up one of the most impressive stat lines seen by a Spartan of all time. 12 kills, 35 set assists and 7 blocks showing the variety of ways Chaim can effect a game.
As the Spartans head into senior weekend against the TRU Wolfpack look for Chaim to set, block and hit his way to helping TWU to a victory. His overall volleyball ability is on showcase every night and is the major reason the Spartans find themselves in contention for playoffs and a birth to the CIS National Championships in Edmonton.
When one tries to sum up who Chaim is it becomes very difficult. His is a gifted setter. A dangerous blocker. A stout defender. A dynamic hitter. A great teammate. A talented leader. A funny jokester. A loyal friend. An irreplaceable piece and a true Spartan.
Chaim, you will be sorely missed in Spartanland.
A big congratulations on making the Beach National Team.
All the best of luck on senior weekend, in whatever role you will play.
Chaim Schalk
#8
Setter / Right Side
Red Deer, Alberta
Education
Go Spartans!
Langley, BC
This weekend marks the final home league weekend for the 2008-2009 Spartans and potentially the final home weekend for 5th year senior setter Chaim Schalk.
Chaim came to TWU following in his brothers' footsteps. Out of high school Chaim attended Red Deer College and won two CCAA National Championships with the Kings. Just as his brothers Jaben and Seth before him. Chaim was a fantastic college player and came to TWU to further his volleyball career at the CIS level and earn his degree in Education.
The tallest of the Schalks, Chaim's role his first year was to back up would be CIS Player of the Year Josh Howatson at the setting position. As fate would have it the injury bug hit the 2006-2007 Spartans with both starting middles Doug Van Spronsen and Clayton Peters going down with injuries (knee & back respectively). In a much talked about move, then Head Coach Ron Pike, moved arguably the best setter in the country to middle and Chaim took over the reins as the starting setter for the remainder of the season. The move was based on the philosophy of putting the team's best players on the floor in the most productive alignment.
Chaim more than just took to the starting setting role, he excelled at it leading the offense and the Spartans to a 3rd place finish in Canada West and a six set sweep of the Saskatchewan Huskies in the first round of the playoffs earning a trip to the Final Four in Edmonton. The Spartans matched up with the second seed Winnipeg Wesmen in the Canada West semi and came out victors earning the right to play the UBC T-Birds who upset the top seeded host Alberta Bears.
The Canada West final was arguably the best match of the season for the Spartans as they dominated from start to finish including a 25-9 second set victory on route to a 3-1 decision. The victory marked TWU's first every Canada West title.
The next step for Schalk and the Spartans was the 2007 CIS National Championships in Hamilton, Ontario. The first round saw the Spartans play the host McMaster Marauders. After dropping the first two sets the Spartans stormed back to win in five emotional sets earning their fourth consecutive national semi final appearance.
Alas the Alberta Bears proved the better team as TWU fell in five epic sets and lost the chance to defend their National Title. To the Spartans credit they responded and beat the T-Birds 3-0 for the bronze medal and their fourth consecutive national medal. Chaim performed brilliantly in the CIS championship and his experiences in Hamilton would serve him well as he headed into his fourth year and first full year as starting setter.
In that off-season long time Spartan Head Coach Ron Pike would step down and former Spartan setter and assistant coach Ben Josephson would be named head coach. Coach Josephson would be very pleased to have a veteran and proven setter in Chaim to lead a mixed group of young and old Spartans in his first campaign.
At Christmas the Spartans were sitting 4-4 and had a couple tough losses. In an attempt to shake things up and following the recent trend of Spartan setters playing other positions Chaim would move to right side for the second semester. Chaim is an amazing volleyball player and his performance on the right side would prove this as he was a very effective attacker for TWU helping the Spartans land their 8th straight playoff appearance. The 07-08 season would end in Winnipeg to the defending National Champion Wesmen through no fault of Schalks.
In the off seasons Chaim plays a lot of beach volleyball where overall skill is key to success. In the 2008 National Beach Championships Chaim and partner Tim Gourlay of the Alberta Bears won the bronze medal and his performance at the tournament would earn him a tryout for Team Canada Beach.
Back on the hard court Chaim was named captain for his senior season along with his great friend Andrew Hawkes. The two are the only 4th or 5th year members of the 08-09 team and their skill, leaderhsip and experience would be needed as the Spartans took to Canada West play.
So far this season Chaim is playing the best volleyball of his career. He has set amazingly well with many young weapons. He has also been called upon to hit one rotation each set as second year setter Ben Ball delivers the ball. This rotation pattern takes full advantage of all that Chaim has to offer the Spartans. In a match with the Manitoba Bisons Chaim put up one of the most impressive stat lines seen by a Spartan of all time. 12 kills, 35 set assists and 7 blocks showing the variety of ways Chaim can effect a game.
As the Spartans head into senior weekend against the TRU Wolfpack look for Chaim to set, block and hit his way to helping TWU to a victory. His overall volleyball ability is on showcase every night and is the major reason the Spartans find themselves in contention for playoffs and a birth to the CIS National Championships in Edmonton.
When one tries to sum up who Chaim is it becomes very difficult. His is a gifted setter. A dangerous blocker. A stout defender. A dynamic hitter. A great teammate. A talented leader. A funny jokester. A loyal friend. An irreplaceable piece and a true Spartan.
Chaim, you will be sorely missed in Spartanland.
A big congratulations on making the Beach National Team.
All the best of luck on senior weekend, in whatever role you will play.
Chaim Schalk
#8
Setter / Right Side
Red Deer, Alberta
Education
Go Spartans!
Thompson Rivers Wolfpack Weekend Preview
January 22nd, 2009
Langley, BC
This weekend the Spartan Men's Volleyball Team will host the #6 ranked Thompson Rivers Wolfpack at what could be the final volleyball matches at the David E Enarson gymnasium. The #8 ranked Spartans are in for a very physical weekend with one of the biggest teams in the conference. The 'Pack rank in the top four in the conference in hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, aces and blocks. On top of this they boast two of the top attacking players in the conference with left side Gord Perrin and right side Robin Schobel. These two impressive athletes are both very physical possessing big jump and big arms.
In order to protect the final weekend for the Enar the Spartans will have to try to neutralize the Wolfpack offensive pressure with solid blocking and inspired defense. The Spartans are 2nd in the conference in opponent hitting percentage, 5th in blocks and 3rd in digs. They will need to at least match their season averages in order to achieve success this weekend in Langley.
These two teams are fairly familiar with each other, playing five times in the 2007-08 season with TWU edging out TRU 3 games to 2 including a split in Kamloops in the only two meetings of the regular season. In the current season the teams have only met once back in October in Kamloops with the home team winning convincingly 3-0. Of note senior setter Chaim Schalk was unable to play that match due to a quad strain.
This weekend's match-up is one of brawn vs brains. The Wolfpack use their size and athleticism to block, serve and bang their way to victories. The Spartans find their success with speed, skill and a varied offense using many different attacking options and patterns to neutralize opponents. This weekend will truly come down to which team can impose their will upon the game pulling the flow of the match towards the respective team's strengths.
Some match ups of note in the game within the game will be the battle in the middle and the obvious match ups of the TRU bangers on the wing. The Spartans middles are smaller and more offensively geared in comparison to the bigger blocking style middles of TRU. The battle for the middle will determine much of what is to happen throughout the weekend as Rudy Verhoeff and Josh Doornenbal try to attack for a high percentage against the big blockers Stefan Savoie and Martin Korsbak. The Spartans right side blockers Chaim Schalk and Aaron Vandenbrink will have their hands full with Gord Perrin who was teammates this summer with Marc Howatson and Verhoeff with the World Championship qualifier Team Canada Juniors. The Spartans left sides will have their hands equally full with French right side Schobel who is as physical as you will find in Canada West. The games within the game will be very enjoyable for the patrons of the Enar to watch.
To make this weekend's match up even better is the playoff implications that exist. At 9-5 the Wolfpack have clinched a playoff spot and are in sole possession of third place in the conference. The Spartans sit at 7-5, good enough for 4th place in the conference. A Wolfpack sweep in Langley will all but secure a no worse finish than third for TRU. A Spartan sweep will essentially tie the two teams with TWU holding two games in hand and will go a long way to securing a home playoff birth for the Spartans. A split will put a tremendous amount of pressure on the final two weekends for the Spartans in their hopes of adding another opportunity for the TWU fans to flock to David E. The split will essentially eliminate TRU from contention for the 2nd place spot in the conference and will make their final two matches with Calgary the following weekend their final opportunity to secure their own home playoff birth.
The weekend is setting up to be the biggest weekend for both teams of the season and with both teams being BC teams with lots of Fraser Valley flavour the crowd should be large and charged.
Match times go 8pm on Friday and 7pm Saturday.
Go Spartans!
Langley, BC
This weekend the Spartan Men's Volleyball Team will host the #6 ranked Thompson Rivers Wolfpack at what could be the final volleyball matches at the David E Enarson gymnasium. The #8 ranked Spartans are in for a very physical weekend with one of the biggest teams in the conference. The 'Pack rank in the top four in the conference in hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage, aces and blocks. On top of this they boast two of the top attacking players in the conference with left side Gord Perrin and right side Robin Schobel. These two impressive athletes are both very physical possessing big jump and big arms.
In order to protect the final weekend for the Enar the Spartans will have to try to neutralize the Wolfpack offensive pressure with solid blocking and inspired defense. The Spartans are 2nd in the conference in opponent hitting percentage, 5th in blocks and 3rd in digs. They will need to at least match their season averages in order to achieve success this weekend in Langley.
These two teams are fairly familiar with each other, playing five times in the 2007-08 season with TWU edging out TRU 3 games to 2 including a split in Kamloops in the only two meetings of the regular season. In the current season the teams have only met once back in October in Kamloops with the home team winning convincingly 3-0. Of note senior setter Chaim Schalk was unable to play that match due to a quad strain.
This weekend's match-up is one of brawn vs brains. The Wolfpack use their size and athleticism to block, serve and bang their way to victories. The Spartans find their success with speed, skill and a varied offense using many different attacking options and patterns to neutralize opponents. This weekend will truly come down to which team can impose their will upon the game pulling the flow of the match towards the respective team's strengths.
Some match ups of note in the game within the game will be the battle in the middle and the obvious match ups of the TRU bangers on the wing. The Spartans middles are smaller and more offensively geared in comparison to the bigger blocking style middles of TRU. The battle for the middle will determine much of what is to happen throughout the weekend as Rudy Verhoeff and Josh Doornenbal try to attack for a high percentage against the big blockers Stefan Savoie and Martin Korsbak. The Spartans right side blockers Chaim Schalk and Aaron Vandenbrink will have their hands full with Gord Perrin who was teammates this summer with Marc Howatson and Verhoeff with the World Championship qualifier Team Canada Juniors. The Spartans left sides will have their hands equally full with French right side Schobel who is as physical as you will find in Canada West. The games within the game will be very enjoyable for the patrons of the Enar to watch.
To make this weekend's match up even better is the playoff implications that exist. At 9-5 the Wolfpack have clinched a playoff spot and are in sole possession of third place in the conference. The Spartans sit at 7-5, good enough for 4th place in the conference. A Wolfpack sweep in Langley will all but secure a no worse finish than third for TRU. A Spartan sweep will essentially tie the two teams with TWU holding two games in hand and will go a long way to securing a home playoff birth for the Spartans. A split will put a tremendous amount of pressure on the final two weekends for the Spartans in their hopes of adding another opportunity for the TWU fans to flock to David E. The split will essentially eliminate TRU from contention for the 2nd place spot in the conference and will make their final two matches with Calgary the following weekend their final opportunity to secure their own home playoff birth.
The weekend is setting up to be the biggest weekend for both teams of the season and with both teams being BC teams with lots of Fraser Valley flavour the crowd should be large and charged.
Match times go 8pm on Friday and 7pm Saturday.
Go Spartans!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Bears Weekend Wrap Up
January 20th, 2009
Langley, BC
This past weekend the Spartans traveled to Edmonton to battle the undefeated and number 1 ranked team in the country, the Alberta Bears. Sadly to say the Spartans come home to sunny BC without being able to claim the first victory against the Bears of the 08-09 campaign. The Spartans do come home feeling good about the weekend win less as it was.
Both nights the Spartans stuck their noses in the fight and took the Bears' best shot and a mighty blow they can deliver. Every set throughout the weekend was hotly contested with some of the best volleyball of the season on both sides of the court. The Bears boast a very physical team with great attacking, blocking and serving. The Spartans brought their best ball control and defense and the collision was epic. The weekend brought both teams together blending the strengths making for some exciting volleyball. The Spartans showed their great attacking ability and the Bears showed some great defense. Both teams blocked really well and the major difference in the weekend was the Bears held a major edge in the service category.
TWU held leads of up to 7 points in some of the sets and held leads of 4 in all but two sets. Alberta showed that they have been in the last seven national championship finals with some experience and toughness as they fought back to win sets at the end. While the Spartans have to feel good about knowing they can play shot for shot with the top team in the country it has to be noted that in order to win tough elite level volleyball games you must make big plays at big times. This past weekend the majority of the big plays at big times were made by the men in green. The boys in blue must recognize where they missed and make up for it for the season is long from over and the playoff picture in the Canada West is wide open.
The Spartans return home to face the upstart Thompson Rivers Wolfpack, last season's bronze medalist team. The two teams have faced each other once this season in Kamloops with the 'Pack winning in three tight sets.
Match times go Friday 8pm and Saturday 7pm.
Go Spartans
Langley, BC
This past weekend the Spartans traveled to Edmonton to battle the undefeated and number 1 ranked team in the country, the Alberta Bears. Sadly to say the Spartans come home to sunny BC without being able to claim the first victory against the Bears of the 08-09 campaign. The Spartans do come home feeling good about the weekend win less as it was.
Both nights the Spartans stuck their noses in the fight and took the Bears' best shot and a mighty blow they can deliver. Every set throughout the weekend was hotly contested with some of the best volleyball of the season on both sides of the court. The Bears boast a very physical team with great attacking, blocking and serving. The Spartans brought their best ball control and defense and the collision was epic. The weekend brought both teams together blending the strengths making for some exciting volleyball. The Spartans showed their great attacking ability and the Bears showed some great defense. Both teams blocked really well and the major difference in the weekend was the Bears held a major edge in the service category.
TWU held leads of up to 7 points in some of the sets and held leads of 4 in all but two sets. Alberta showed that they have been in the last seven national championship finals with some experience and toughness as they fought back to win sets at the end. While the Spartans have to feel good about knowing they can play shot for shot with the top team in the country it has to be noted that in order to win tough elite level volleyball games you must make big plays at big times. This past weekend the majority of the big plays at big times were made by the men in green. The boys in blue must recognize where they missed and make up for it for the season is long from over and the playoff picture in the Canada West is wide open.
The Spartans return home to face the upstart Thompson Rivers Wolfpack, last season's bronze medalist team. The two teams have faced each other once this season in Kamloops with the 'Pack winning in three tight sets.
Match times go Friday 8pm and Saturday 7pm.
Go Spartans
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Alberta Bears Weekend Preview
January 15th, 2009
Edmonton, Alberta - Coast House Hotel
Here we are in snowy & cold Edmonton...again. About to play the #1 team in the country Alberta Bears...again. Undefeated...again. Playoff positioning on the line...again.
I'm not sure how many times we've come here around this time of year with gigantic playoff implications on the line.
2003: Spartans fighting for their first ever program birth to Nationals and things looking good. To this point have never beaten U of A in a league game much less in Edmonton. The Spartans battle hard and earn an 11-6 lead in the 5th. Eventual 2003 CIS Player of the Year Pascal Cardinal goes back to serve and rattles off 7 straight to go up 14-11 before the Spartans can side out only to lose 15-12 in five heart breaking sets. The Spartans eventually lost a tie break and missed nationals again.
2004: Spartans battling with a young line up and fighting against injuries and to find a consistent line up. First night the Bears clean up 3-0 on the Spartans in Langley. With not much to lose and needing to make a run to make playoffs in a admirable position Ron Pike changes line ups. Moves 5th year left side Jason Hofer to libero and inserts Seth Schalk. Sits 5th year right side Chris Roy for freshman phenom Steve Rogalsky. With Josh Howatson, Chris Meehan, Justin Pankratz and Jeff Stel rounding out the line up the Championship cycle starts their first game together and proceed to beat the Bears in league for the first time in TWU history. This same line up, with one change at libero, would beat those same Bears in the most lopsided CIS final in history.
2005: CIS National Final. Highest scoring final in CIS history. Closest CIS final in history and in many opinions, including my own, the greatest volleyball match in a national final ever.
2006: CIS National Final. Lowest scoring final in CIS history (games to 25 only). Most lopsided final in CIS history and in many opinions, including my own, the worst volleyball match in a national final ever...and Spartanville loved every minute of it.
2007: Canadwest playoff positioning hanging in the balance. 5 great teams only 4 births to Nationals. Toba, Berta, Tee-Dub, Birds & the Peg all battling to be one of those teams and no one wanted to end up in the 4 vs 5 match up in Canada West playoffs. With two options available the the Spartans to avoid the 4-5 match up hopes were low in Spartanland. All the Spartans had to do was go into Edmonton and sweep the number 1 team in the country. Never mind that TWU had never beaten Alberta in Edmonton, to do it twice was too much to ask. The only other scenario that would help the Spartans avoid the eventual 5th place Bisons would be to win 3-0 and lose 2-3...ONLY. Friday night...mission accomplished 3-0. First ever win in Edmonton. Now to take two more sets. Bears take first two...Spartans take second 2...who cares what happened in the fifth. Spartans win Canada West, advance to Nationals for fourth consecutive year and receive their fourth consecutive medal (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Bronze).
2008: #1 Bears roll into Langley and beat up on a young Spartan team and get out of town only putting in 2 hours of work in on route to their third national championship in seven years.
2009: #1 Bears, undefeated. Only dropped four sets all season and those were in two matches (Brandon & TRU). Young and inconsistent Spartan group rolls into Edmonton with dreams of competing in March in their minds. Will this be another chapter in the epic second semester battles between Bear & Spartan or is this 2008 all over again?
Stay Tuned.
.
.
.
.Go Spartans !!!
Edmonton, Alberta - Coast House Hotel
Here we are in snowy & cold Edmonton...again. About to play the #1 team in the country Alberta Bears...again. Undefeated...again. Playoff positioning on the line...again.
I'm not sure how many times we've come here around this time of year with gigantic playoff implications on the line.
2003: Spartans fighting for their first ever program birth to Nationals and things looking good. To this point have never beaten U of A in a league game much less in Edmonton. The Spartans battle hard and earn an 11-6 lead in the 5th. Eventual 2003 CIS Player of the Year Pascal Cardinal goes back to serve and rattles off 7 straight to go up 14-11 before the Spartans can side out only to lose 15-12 in five heart breaking sets. The Spartans eventually lost a tie break and missed nationals again.
2004: Spartans battling with a young line up and fighting against injuries and to find a consistent line up. First night the Bears clean up 3-0 on the Spartans in Langley. With not much to lose and needing to make a run to make playoffs in a admirable position Ron Pike changes line ups. Moves 5th year left side Jason Hofer to libero and inserts Seth Schalk. Sits 5th year right side Chris Roy for freshman phenom Steve Rogalsky. With Josh Howatson, Chris Meehan, Justin Pankratz and Jeff Stel rounding out the line up the Championship cycle starts their first game together and proceed to beat the Bears in league for the first time in TWU history. This same line up, with one change at libero, would beat those same Bears in the most lopsided CIS final in history.
2005: CIS National Final. Highest scoring final in CIS history. Closest CIS final in history and in many opinions, including my own, the greatest volleyball match in a national final ever.
2006: CIS National Final. Lowest scoring final in CIS history (games to 25 only). Most lopsided final in CIS history and in many opinions, including my own, the worst volleyball match in a national final ever...and Spartanville loved every minute of it.
2007: Canadwest playoff positioning hanging in the balance. 5 great teams only 4 births to Nationals. Toba, Berta, Tee-Dub, Birds & the Peg all battling to be one of those teams and no one wanted to end up in the 4 vs 5 match up in Canada West playoffs. With two options available the the Spartans to avoid the 4-5 match up hopes were low in Spartanland. All the Spartans had to do was go into Edmonton and sweep the number 1 team in the country. Never mind that TWU had never beaten Alberta in Edmonton, to do it twice was too much to ask. The only other scenario that would help the Spartans avoid the eventual 5th place Bisons would be to win 3-0 and lose 2-3...ONLY. Friday night...mission accomplished 3-0. First ever win in Edmonton. Now to take two more sets. Bears take first two...Spartans take second 2...who cares what happened in the fifth. Spartans win Canada West, advance to Nationals for fourth consecutive year and receive their fourth consecutive medal (Bronze, Silver, Gold, Bronze).
2008: #1 Bears roll into Langley and beat up on a young Spartan team and get out of town only putting in 2 hours of work in on route to their third national championship in seven years.
2009: #1 Bears, undefeated. Only dropped four sets all season and those were in two matches (Brandon & TRU). Young and inconsistent Spartan group rolls into Edmonton with dreams of competing in March in their minds. Will this be another chapter in the epic second semester battles between Bear & Spartan or is this 2008 all over again?
Stay Tuned.
.
.
.
.Go Spartans !!!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Bison Weekend Wrap Up
January 11th, 2009
Langley, BC
This past weekend the TWU Spartans defended the Enar against the formerly mighty Bisons avenging a sweep in Winnipeg to begin 2008 last season. The back to back defeats one year ago was a tough weekend to begin 2008 with and in hindsight ended up costing the Spartans. A split that weekend or a sweep could have seen the Spartans finish as high as third in the conference and earning a host playoff birth. As it turned out the Spartans lost a tie break to finish 7th and had the arduous task of going to the defending National Champions Winnipeg Wesmen in search of two of three matches to advance to the Canada West Final Four and a trip to compete for the National Title. Alas it was not to be...the Spartans fell quickly 0-6 in two nights. Those losses to the Bisons were the death sentence for the 07-08 Spartans.
The 08-09 Spartans knew the story well of what the Bisons cost the previous year. To remind the contemporary Spartans of the previous debacle former Right Side and member of the heart broken 07-08 team Steve Rogalsky left a voicemail asking / requesting that they avenge him and "make the Bisons sad."
Steve...mission accomplished.
The Spartans took care of business this past weekend winning 6 of 7 sets. Neither match was a convincing or dominant performance but it was a decent start to the semester, a good first game back after Christmas and most importantly a little redemption. By beating the Bisons both nights in defense of the Spartans' beloved Enar Tee-Dub looks to have all but clinched a playoff spot. Mathematically there are still 8 teams alive for 7 playoff spots but by putting a 4 match spread between them and the Bisons with 8 matches left the Spartans look to be in good stead to make their 9th straight playoff appearance.
Friday's match was characterized by blocking as both teams put up 10 team blocks in 4 sets. Neither team executed very effectively offensively with the Bisons hitting for 23% and the Spartans 29.5%, one of the season's lowest numbers. Marc Howatson and Aaron Vandenbrink were the key offensive stat makers though Marc did not have one of his best games. Aaron on the other hand was extremely clutch going 12-5 on 22 attempts. Three of his 12 kills were final kills of games including the game winner in sets 1 & 2. For his efforts Aaron was definately the man of the match.
Saturday's match saw the Spartans continue their dominant blocking with 13.5 but hit the ball much more efficiently going 32.7% as a team including the two high attempt players Howatson & Chaim Schalk hitting .417 & .476 respectively. When the high volume players are also the high effeciency players it is always a good formula for success. Vandenbrink continued his onslaught of Bison blockers and defenders putting up 8 kills on 14 attempts for .357. The lowlight of the night was Josh Doornenbal's three service violations and back row violation which still has the Spartans joking throughout the week's practice. The highlight was Chaim Schalk's stat line:
12 kills
2 error
21 attack attempts
35 set assists
3 digs (4 missed digs...for humility)
7 blocks
Keep in mind this is the setter...he only hit one rotation per set.
Rogalsky, you are welcome. The Bisons go home sad and the Spartans take a little revenge, rest and recognize that the semester gets tougher.
The #1 Bears...in the den...next weekend.
Langley, BC
This past weekend the TWU Spartans defended the Enar against the formerly mighty Bisons avenging a sweep in Winnipeg to begin 2008 last season. The back to back defeats one year ago was a tough weekend to begin 2008 with and in hindsight ended up costing the Spartans. A split that weekend or a sweep could have seen the Spartans finish as high as third in the conference and earning a host playoff birth. As it turned out the Spartans lost a tie break to finish 7th and had the arduous task of going to the defending National Champions Winnipeg Wesmen in search of two of three matches to advance to the Canada West Final Four and a trip to compete for the National Title. Alas it was not to be...the Spartans fell quickly 0-6 in two nights. Those losses to the Bisons were the death sentence for the 07-08 Spartans.
The 08-09 Spartans knew the story well of what the Bisons cost the previous year. To remind the contemporary Spartans of the previous debacle former Right Side and member of the heart broken 07-08 team Steve Rogalsky left a voicemail asking / requesting that they avenge him and "make the Bisons sad."
Steve...mission accomplished.
The Spartans took care of business this past weekend winning 6 of 7 sets. Neither match was a convincing or dominant performance but it was a decent start to the semester, a good first game back after Christmas and most importantly a little redemption. By beating the Bisons both nights in defense of the Spartans' beloved Enar Tee-Dub looks to have all but clinched a playoff spot. Mathematically there are still 8 teams alive for 7 playoff spots but by putting a 4 match spread between them and the Bisons with 8 matches left the Spartans look to be in good stead to make their 9th straight playoff appearance.
Friday's match was characterized by blocking as both teams put up 10 team blocks in 4 sets. Neither team executed very effectively offensively with the Bisons hitting for 23% and the Spartans 29.5%, one of the season's lowest numbers. Marc Howatson and Aaron Vandenbrink were the key offensive stat makers though Marc did not have one of his best games. Aaron on the other hand was extremely clutch going 12-5 on 22 attempts. Three of his 12 kills were final kills of games including the game winner in sets 1 & 2. For his efforts Aaron was definately the man of the match.
Saturday's match saw the Spartans continue their dominant blocking with 13.5 but hit the ball much more efficiently going 32.7% as a team including the two high attempt players Howatson & Chaim Schalk hitting .417 & .476 respectively. When the high volume players are also the high effeciency players it is always a good formula for success. Vandenbrink continued his onslaught of Bison blockers and defenders putting up 8 kills on 14 attempts for .357. The lowlight of the night was Josh Doornenbal's three service violations and back row violation which still has the Spartans joking throughout the week's practice. The highlight was Chaim Schalk's stat line:
12 kills
2 error
21 attack attempts
35 set assists
3 digs (4 missed digs...for humility)
7 blocks
Keep in mind this is the setter...he only hit one rotation per set.
Rogalsky, you are welcome. The Bisons go home sad and the Spartans take a little revenge, rest and recognize that the semester gets tougher.
The #1 Bears...in the den...next weekend.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
2009's New Spartans...Already
January 7th, 2009:
Langley, BC
Spartan Men's Volleyball is pleased to announce the signing of two of our top three recruits for the fall of 2009: Brad Kufske & Derek Thiessen.
These are the two best attackers in the province of BC for the grad class of 2009. They are both physical and have a good background in volleyball and sport in general. Both Brad and Derek have been members of Team BC the past two summers and were both members of the U16 Team BC that won the Elite West Challenge with Derek being named MVP of the tournament. Both are members of our Fraser Valley Volleyball Club and follow the tradition of Steve Rogalsky, Jeff Stel, Justin Pankratz and Aaron Vandenbrink going from FVVC to TWU. With FVVC Brad won a U16 National Championship in 2007 in Calgary. These two athletes provide the Spartans with two side out machines to build around for the next five years and in contrast to some of the most recent Spartan recruits they have good frames on them already and may not require quite as much work in the weight room as Marc Howatson.
Brad Kufske
6'5 195
Right Side / Left Side
Spike Touch 11'2.5"
Brad is the top prospect in BC coming out of high school this next fall. He is hyper athletic and physical. He is also one of the top high school basketball players in BC and had many opportunities to play post secondary basketball in BC as most BC Universities had contacted him. Fortunately for TWU he decided to play volleyball and Spartanland will be the benefit for years to come. Look for Brad to play right side for the Spartans his first few years with a move to the left side later in his career as his passing improves. In the current Spartan system with Josh Doornenbal hitting the back row D ball Brad could see some early court time as early as next fall allowing him to hit and block front row without needing to hit the backrow ball or play defense. This would allow him to play in his areas of strength while he works on the skill portions of his game.
Brad's intangibles are incredible. He is an honour roll student with an 85% average in his academic courses in high school. He is a tireless worker both on and off the court and that work ethic will allow him to make the transition to the University level very quickly. He is also a young man with exceptional character and morals. He is going to be a great centre piece to the Spartans' future.
Derek Thiessen
6'6 200
Left Side / Right Side
Spike Touch 11'5"
Derek is the other great attacking prospect out of BC high schools this year. He is big and physical with a tremendous amount of athleticism. He is still a bit raw when it comes to the touch skills (passing & defense) but at the net he is a major presence. He, like Brad, has a history of playing middle and is a big blocker at any of the positions. His big jump and big drift make him a very dangerous attacker down the road. His high end is hard to put a lid on at this point as his physicality will not limit him in anyway. For Derek it really will be a matter of how quickly he picks up the passing element of being a left side player which is what we foresee for his future.
Derek is also a great young man off the court. He is a sharp kid who does well in school and has a dedication to faith and a great family background. Both of his parents were basketball players and very athletic in their own right. His uncle Paul Thiessen is a former member of Team Canada Volleyball. High end athletics is in the blood and we believe it will be shown throughout Derek's career in Langley.
With the addition of these two top recruits Spartan Men's Volleyball boasts the best collection of young hitters in Canada West. Brad & Derek join Marc Howatson, Aaron Vandenbrink , Paul Lindemulder, Mikaih Schalk and soon to be eligible skywalker Steve Marshall. This group of hitters all between 1st and 4th year next fall looks to solidify Spartan Men's Volleyball future on the wings for quite some time.
Next fall the Spartans still hope to add a second setter and another middle. Ben Ball returns for his 3rd year and will take over the full time setting reins from Chaim Schlk. Rudy Verhoeff, Josh Dornenbal and Dan Jansen VanDoorn are the three returning middles. Rounding out next fall's roster are the three liberos: Andrew Hawkes, Jarrod Offereins and John Wiebe.
2009-??? looks very bright with the amount of talent collecting at TWU.
Langley, BC
Spartan Men's Volleyball is pleased to announce the signing of two of our top three recruits for the fall of 2009: Brad Kufske & Derek Thiessen.
These are the two best attackers in the province of BC for the grad class of 2009. They are both physical and have a good background in volleyball and sport in general. Both Brad and Derek have been members of Team BC the past two summers and were both members of the U16 Team BC that won the Elite West Challenge with Derek being named MVP of the tournament. Both are members of our Fraser Valley Volleyball Club and follow the tradition of Steve Rogalsky, Jeff Stel, Justin Pankratz and Aaron Vandenbrink going from FVVC to TWU. With FVVC Brad won a U16 National Championship in 2007 in Calgary. These two athletes provide the Spartans with two side out machines to build around for the next five years and in contrast to some of the most recent Spartan recruits they have good frames on them already and may not require quite as much work in the weight room as Marc Howatson.
Brad Kufske
6'5 195
Right Side / Left Side
Spike Touch 11'2.5"
Brad is the top prospect in BC coming out of high school this next fall. He is hyper athletic and physical. He is also one of the top high school basketball players in BC and had many opportunities to play post secondary basketball in BC as most BC Universities had contacted him. Fortunately for TWU he decided to play volleyball and Spartanland will be the benefit for years to come. Look for Brad to play right side for the Spartans his first few years with a move to the left side later in his career as his passing improves. In the current Spartan system with Josh Doornenbal hitting the back row D ball Brad could see some early court time as early as next fall allowing him to hit and block front row without needing to hit the backrow ball or play defense. This would allow him to play in his areas of strength while he works on the skill portions of his game.
Brad's intangibles are incredible. He is an honour roll student with an 85% average in his academic courses in high school. He is a tireless worker both on and off the court and that work ethic will allow him to make the transition to the University level very quickly. He is also a young man with exceptional character and morals. He is going to be a great centre piece to the Spartans' future.
Derek Thiessen
6'6 200
Left Side / Right Side
Spike Touch 11'5"
Derek is the other great attacking prospect out of BC high schools this year. He is big and physical with a tremendous amount of athleticism. He is still a bit raw when it comes to the touch skills (passing & defense) but at the net he is a major presence. He, like Brad, has a history of playing middle and is a big blocker at any of the positions. His big jump and big drift make him a very dangerous attacker down the road. His high end is hard to put a lid on at this point as his physicality will not limit him in anyway. For Derek it really will be a matter of how quickly he picks up the passing element of being a left side player which is what we foresee for his future.
Derek is also a great young man off the court. He is a sharp kid who does well in school and has a dedication to faith and a great family background. Both of his parents were basketball players and very athletic in their own right. His uncle Paul Thiessen is a former member of Team Canada Volleyball. High end athletics is in the blood and we believe it will be shown throughout Derek's career in Langley.
With the addition of these two top recruits Spartan Men's Volleyball boasts the best collection of young hitters in Canada West. Brad & Derek join Marc Howatson, Aaron Vandenbrink , Paul Lindemulder, Mikaih Schalk and soon to be eligible skywalker Steve Marshall. This group of hitters all between 1st and 4th year next fall looks to solidify Spartan Men's Volleyball future on the wings for quite some time.
Next fall the Spartans still hope to add a second setter and another middle. Ben Ball returns for his 3rd year and will take over the full time setting reins from Chaim Schlk. Rudy Verhoeff, Josh Dornenbal and Dan Jansen VanDoorn are the three returning middles. Rounding out next fall's roster are the three liberos: Andrew Hawkes, Jarrod Offereins and John Wiebe.
2009-??? looks very bright with the amount of talent collecting at TWU.
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
2008-09 Mid Season Review
January 6th, 2009:
Langley, BC
The first half was very successful. We had a lot of exhibition play against many of the top teams in the country. Alberta (#1), TRU (#9), McMaster (#2) as well as a number of the top NCAA schools USC, Pepperdine, IPFW & Stanford. This exhibition schedule allowed us to mix our lineups and work on our game play. By having this many matches we were able to spend more time in our training sessions on technical skill work. This pattern is one that I though was very productive as we prepared for our Canada West season.
Prior to the season we had hoped to be at 5-3 at the semester break and we've achieved that goal. From that perspective we are happy with our record in league play but we did have an opportunity to have an even better record but let that slip away the last weekend of the semester with two losses to UBC. We had a tough first semester schedule wise with matches against Calgary (#4), Winnipeg (#6) & UBC (#7) but I believe we improved throughout the semester and have set us up for a good second semester run towards the playoffs and the CIS national championships in Edmonton.
The highlight of the semester was the sweep at home of Winnipeg, currently #6 in the country. The Wesmen have been one of the nation's top teams the last few years finishing 1st and 2nd nationally the past two seasons. This year they will be in contention for another national birth and to sweep them was a great weekend for our team. The low light was the final weekend of the semester as we dropped two to UBC at Point Grey. We performed marginally and ran up against a hot T-Bird team. It is important to get splits on the road against top quality opponents and we did not do what it took to earn that split. After the weekend we talked about the importance of taking care of your opportunities in our league. If you fail to win matches that are within grasp you may have to pay a price for it with a tough playoff draw on the road or worse.
Part of our success in the first semester can be attributed to the play of Marc Howatson, Chaim Schalk and Aaron Vandenbrink. As a fifth year setter a lot of pressure has been put on Chaim Schalk to lead this young team on and off the court. Chaim had his best semester as a Spartan and our record is a reflection of that performance. With the graduation of Steve Rogalsky we had a big hole to fill on the right side and Aaron Vandenbrink has done a great job. Aaron has been fighting a bad back all semester but was still able to perform very well allowing our offence to balance the court and get production from all attacking positions. This semester Marc Howatson has developed into a great "go to" attacker for us. Without Rogalsky we needed someone to step up onto the role of our side out wing player and Marc has done a great job in that role. He is in the top ten in the conference in attack efficiency (7th), kills per game (5th), points per game (5th) and aces per game (4th). Statistically Marc has been our best player in the first semester but with our system no one can operate without the contributions of the whole group. We believe in balance and skill and in that type of a system the importance of the whole group cannot be measured by statistics. Paul Lindemulder had a very good semester as our "control" left side player improving every weekend culminating in being our best player the UBC weekend. Rudy Verhoeff and Josh Doornenbal were fantastic in the middle for us this semester and they drew a lot of attention from our opponents allowing for some attacking opportunities for our outside hitters. Andrew Hawkes, our captain, had a good semester as our libero. He is the only remaining player for the 2006 CIS championship season and his leadership has been invaluable to this group. Our second unit has been great this semester both from a training context and a support role off the bench. Mikiah Schalk, Ben Ball and Jarrod Offereins have all given great lifts to the team off the bench throughout the semester and are sure to be major factors in our second half.
The second half of the season is going to be very interesting as the Canada West is as tight as it has been in years with only Alberta separating from the pack as the clear leader and Saskatchewan and Regina being left behind. That leaves seven teams fighting for six playoff spots with every position up for grabs. It will truly come down to who performs the best this semester.
We really don't have any easy matches this semester due to the competitiveness of the league. The three match weekends that are most important are Manitoba (Jan 9 & 10), Thompson Rivers (Jan 23 & 24) and Brandon (Jan 30 & 31). These weekends are so huge as all three teams will be fighting for playoff spots and all three are very tough teams to beat. Fortunately for us Manitoba and TRU are in our gym and we are tough to beat at the Enarson. If I was to identify one weekend as the pivot for the semester it would be the TRU weekend. Currently we have very similar records at the break. The only difference is that we've not played Alberta yet. That weekend will largely determine if we have a chance at hosting a playoff series or not. TRU was banged up most of the first semester and are just coming off a tournament victory over perennial contender in the NCAA Pepperdine. They will be very tough to beat but a challenge we are looking forward to.
As always in Canada West every weekend is a dog fight with great teams. Every game is both winnable and loseable and all are important, especially second semester. We are really looking forward to getting on the floor in our attempt to earn a trip to Edmonton to compete for the CIS National Championship.
Langley, BC
The first half was very successful. We had a lot of exhibition play against many of the top teams in the country. Alberta (#1), TRU (#9), McMaster (#2) as well as a number of the top NCAA schools USC, Pepperdine, IPFW & Stanford. This exhibition schedule allowed us to mix our lineups and work on our game play. By having this many matches we were able to spend more time in our training sessions on technical skill work. This pattern is one that I though was very productive as we prepared for our Canada West season.
Prior to the season we had hoped to be at 5-3 at the semester break and we've achieved that goal. From that perspective we are happy with our record in league play but we did have an opportunity to have an even better record but let that slip away the last weekend of the semester with two losses to UBC. We had a tough first semester schedule wise with matches against Calgary (#4), Winnipeg (#6) & UBC (#7) but I believe we improved throughout the semester and have set us up for a good second semester run towards the playoffs and the CIS national championships in Edmonton.
The highlight of the semester was the sweep at home of Winnipeg, currently #6 in the country. The Wesmen have been one of the nation's top teams the last few years finishing 1st and 2nd nationally the past two seasons. This year they will be in contention for another national birth and to sweep them was a great weekend for our team. The low light was the final weekend of the semester as we dropped two to UBC at Point Grey. We performed marginally and ran up against a hot T-Bird team. It is important to get splits on the road against top quality opponents and we did not do what it took to earn that split. After the weekend we talked about the importance of taking care of your opportunities in our league. If you fail to win matches that are within grasp you may have to pay a price for it with a tough playoff draw on the road or worse.
Part of our success in the first semester can be attributed to the play of Marc Howatson, Chaim Schalk and Aaron Vandenbrink. As a fifth year setter a lot of pressure has been put on Chaim Schalk to lead this young team on and off the court. Chaim had his best semester as a Spartan and our record is a reflection of that performance. With the graduation of Steve Rogalsky we had a big hole to fill on the right side and Aaron Vandenbrink has done a great job. Aaron has been fighting a bad back all semester but was still able to perform very well allowing our offence to balance the court and get production from all attacking positions. This semester Marc Howatson has developed into a great "go to" attacker for us. Without Rogalsky we needed someone to step up onto the role of our side out wing player and Marc has done a great job in that role. He is in the top ten in the conference in attack efficiency (7th), kills per game (5th), points per game (5th) and aces per game (4th). Statistically Marc has been our best player in the first semester but with our system no one can operate without the contributions of the whole group. We believe in balance and skill and in that type of a system the importance of the whole group cannot be measured by statistics. Paul Lindemulder had a very good semester as our "control" left side player improving every weekend culminating in being our best player the UBC weekend. Rudy Verhoeff and Josh Doornenbal were fantastic in the middle for us this semester and they drew a lot of attention from our opponents allowing for some attacking opportunities for our outside hitters. Andrew Hawkes, our captain, had a good semester as our libero. He is the only remaining player for the 2006 CIS championship season and his leadership has been invaluable to this group. Our second unit has been great this semester both from a training context and a support role off the bench. Mikiah Schalk, Ben Ball and Jarrod Offereins have all given great lifts to the team off the bench throughout the semester and are sure to be major factors in our second half.
The second half of the season is going to be very interesting as the Canada West is as tight as it has been in years with only Alberta separating from the pack as the clear leader and Saskatchewan and Regina being left behind. That leaves seven teams fighting for six playoff spots with every position up for grabs. It will truly come down to who performs the best this semester.
We really don't have any easy matches this semester due to the competitiveness of the league. The three match weekends that are most important are Manitoba (Jan 9 & 10), Thompson Rivers (Jan 23 & 24) and Brandon (Jan 30 & 31). These weekends are so huge as all three teams will be fighting for playoff spots and all three are very tough teams to beat. Fortunately for us Manitoba and TRU are in our gym and we are tough to beat at the Enarson. If I was to identify one weekend as the pivot for the semester it would be the TRU weekend. Currently we have very similar records at the break. The only difference is that we've not played Alberta yet. That weekend will largely determine if we have a chance at hosting a playoff series or not. TRU was banged up most of the first semester and are just coming off a tournament victory over perennial contender in the NCAA Pepperdine. They will be very tough to beat but a challenge we are looking forward to.
As always in Canada West every weekend is a dog fight with great teams. Every game is both winnable and loseable and all are important, especially second semester. We are really looking forward to getting on the floor in our attempt to earn a trip to Edmonton to compete for the CIS National Championship.
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