UBC Weekend Preview

October 28th, 2010 – Langley, BC

After the mother of all preseason schedules the Canada West regular season is upon us at Spartan Men’s Volleyball. Excitement is in the air, athletes and coaches are sleepless in anticipation…well coaches…coach…for sure. To add to the Christmas Eve feeling is the opponent facing the Spartans on opening weekend. The cross-town rivals UBC T-Birds are the assigned opponents for the second consecutive season.

To put into perspective what this weekend’s match up has to offer we must look back on the past of this rivalry. From the Spartans first year in the CIS the ‘Birds were always an exciting opponent to play against. In the early years UBC boasted a great team stacked with freaky athletes that included left side greats Jeff Orchard and Guy Davis, serving and attacking specialist middle player Mike Dalziel and one of the most gifted jumpers CanWest has ever seen in right side Chad Grimm. As the Spartans great up and the freaky Bird cycle graduated the balance of power switched to Langley. In one stretch the Spartans won 26 of 27 matches. As typical of the rivalry just as one team established dominance the other team closed the gap and eventually took over the lower mainland thrown of vball dominance.

At the tail end of the Championship cycle the T-Birds gathered another great group of athletes that included MEI product Jarrod Krause, current National teamer Steve Gotch and perennial CanWest libero of the year Blair Bann. This ‘Bird core were able to knock off the Spartan squad twice in Vancouver stripping TWU of their #1 national ranking at the time. A few weeks later the Spartans were able to avenge those defeats by defeating the T-Birds in dominant fashion en route to TWU’s first Canada West Championship. Those same teams met again in McMaster in the National Championship bronze medal match with the Spartans dominating that match again winning their 4th consecutive national medal 3-0.

As the Championship cycle for the Spartans graduated and the current Spartan cycle began to take their places on the court it was UBC’s turn to dominate the regular season matches. TWU was able to score a 5 set thrilling upset of the Birds but that was followed up with two heart-breaking losses in Vancouver the following year. On both nights TWU had taken the first set only to lose the next three sets making it a 1-3 loss on both nights. To make things worse the Saturday night match has gone down in infamy in Spartan lore. After dropping sets 2 & 3 the Spartans built a big lead in the 4th set and had all the momentum. Up 23-16 the fate was all but sealed when the unthinkable happened. After a side out to make the score 23-17 the ‘Birds went on a 7 point run to go up 24-23 eventually winning the set and match 28-26. It was the last match of the first semester and it left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Spartans all Christmas break long.

For the current Spartans that loss is one of the toughest they have ever taken. But from all things positive outcomes are possible. That loss has created an environment in training that no lead is safe, no outcome is certain, both up or down. That lesson has helped shape the way the current team competes, trains and prepares for each and every match. On the eve of yet another epic weekend’s battle with the UBC Thunderbirds it is important to remember the wars that have gone on before…at the War (Memorial Gymnasium, UBC), at the Enar (David E. Enarson Gymnasium, TWU) or most recently as last season the Langley Events Centre.

Last season the home opener was against UBC and in front of 1200 spectators, the largest crowd in Spartan MVB history the home team was able to win a 5 set thriller in dramatic fashion. The second night saw a reversal of fortunes from that fateful night in Vancouver that Spartan lore refers to as “the run.” TWU lost the first set but recovered to build towards a 4 set win including a 25-14 drubbing in the 4th set.

This season the season opener for both teams is the home opener for UBC. There is sure to be a big crowd on hand to witness another Lower Mainland volleyball battle royale. While UBC is coming off what they would describe as a disappointing 2009-10 campaign that saw them miss the playoffs with a 4-14 record they return most of their key players and add a few additions to bolster their roster. Last season’s underperformance is one that the UBC Birds have trained hard to prepare to overcome in the 2010-11 season. While their hopes are high the Spartans look to try to get back on the winning track at the War Memorial Gymnasium in Vancouver. It has been 6 years since the TWU squad has won a match in the UBC gym. The #3 ranked Spartans are the clear favourite in this weekend’s matches but the history of the rivalry has shown that favourites or underdogs have no bearing on the outcomes when these two teams collide.

The Spartans are coming off a lengthy 28 match preseason schedule that saw them compete from Russia to Kelowna to Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. The hurricane of travel and matches has prepared the TWU athletes to compete in all kinds of scenarios. Winning easy, losing hard, winning hard and thankfully only one loss hard, the Spartans are very match ready. The preseason schedule has allowed for a lot of match time for all 15 members of the active roster. That depth will allow TWU to absorb most any kind of pitfall that may come their way this weekend. It will most likely take all 12 athletes on the match roster to try to dispatch a feisty UBC team that will battle to the end to defend their home turf.

Look for 4th year and team captain Rudy Verhoeff to make his regular season debut on the left side a memorable one. Rudy has been one of the Spartans best players throughout the preseason schedule. Fellow former middle player Josh Doornenbal has also been impressive during the preseason as he makes the move from the middle to the right side. The ability of these two accomplished middles to play effectively on the wing proves their all around or universal abilities on the volleyball court. These two mainstays on the Spartan starting lineup will be relied upon heavily by the “engine,” setter Ben Ball to keep the Spartan offense clicking. New comers to the starting line up Dan Jansen Van Doorn and Lucas Van Berkel take over in the middle for Rudy and Josh. Both of the giants have seen a lot of preseason match play and their game readiness is as close as it can be for the Conference phase of the season. Adding to the mix are two great internal positional battles for the Spartans. Jarrod Offereins and John Wiebe are the two liberos competing for the starting job all preseason with both putting up great matches throughout the Eastern Canada Tour. That battle will continue to rage on throughout the first semester adding depth and competitiveness to the Spartan squad. The second left side position is another hotly contested spot by Mikiah Schalk (5th) and freshman Nick Del Bianco. In the last two matches of the preseason vs Dalhousie Tigers in Halifax these two both put up their best matches of the young season. The performance of both have put the Spartans in a very enviable position but coach Josephson in a difficult position of having to choose which to give the opener start to. While difficult the position of having too many match ready players is a problem most teams in the country would relish.

With the Spartans seemingly firing on all cylinders this weekend should be a great kick off to the 2010-11 season. The confident Spartans and the feisty T-Birds should put on a great show this weekend in Vancouver. Match times are set for 8pm both nights at UBC’s War Memorial Gymnasium on the beautiful UBC campus. Both matches will also be webcast for those outside the Vancouver area.

Go Spartans!!!