SPARTANS AND COUGARS TO BATTLE THIS WEEKEND AT LEC

MENS VOLLEYBALL (CANADA WEST)
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 13, 2010
WEEKEND PREVIEW

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPARTANS AND COUGARS TO BATTLE THIS WEEKEND AT LEC

LANGLEY, British Columbia –The No. 4 ranked Trinity Western University Spartans will host the University of Regina Cougars for Tonight’s match.  The Spartans come into the match suffering a pair of losses to the University of Alberta (1-3, 1-3).  The Regina Cougars also suffered a pair of losses.  They were swept by the UBC Thunderbirds (0-3, 0-3).   Leading the way for the Spartans last week was second year outside Steven Marshal (Abbotsford, B.C.) who recorded 35 kills in the losing efforts.  The Cougars received contributions from third year outside Jamie Wilkins (Regina) and second year outside Colin Finch (Regina) both with 14 kills in their losing efforts.

REGINA
Last week the Regina Cougars suffered a pair of loses to the visiting UBC Thunderbirds 0-3 (19-25,21-25,21-25) and 0-3 (19-25,19-25,12-25).  Offensively they were led by the pair of third year outside Jamie Wilkins and second year outside Colin Finch (Regina) with 14 kills each.  On the defensive end fourth year libero Lindsey Isaak (Regina) led the way with 18 digs over the weekend.

Offence
The Cougars have struggled thus far offensively.  Fifth year outside Mathew Brooks (Whitby, Ont.) leads the team with 66 kills and a 2.20 kills per game average.  The Cougars have a balanced attack with five other players recording 30 or more kills.  A pair of setters have helped contribute to Regina’s offense.  First year setter Caleb Eschbach (Dryden, Ont.) and first year setter Derek Delavau (Winnipeg) have 134 and 127 assists respectively.  

Defence
The Cougar defence is led by a trio of blockers.  Third year middle Drew Smith (Barrie, Ont.) leads the team with 20 blocks.  Fifth year outside Mathew Brooks (Whitby, Ont.) and third year outside Jamie Wilkins (Regina) have 14 and 12 blocks respectively.  Fourth year libero Lindsey Isaak (Regina) has been the top digger on the Cougar team with 77 digs.

Conclusion
The Cougars have struggled this year but would love to play spoiler to a Spartan squad in the middle of a tight Canada West playoff race.  They will need solid contributions from their balanced squad if they want to come away with a pair of wins this weekend.


SPARTANS
Last week the Spartans suffered their first sweep of the season losing to No. 4 Alberta  1-3 (19-25,25-20,21-25,21-25) and 1-3 (26-24,13-25,25-27,23-25).  Second year outside Steven Marshal led the way for the Spartans offensively with 35 kills over the weekend.  Third year setter Ben Ball (Abbotsford, B.C.) had 78 assists in the losing efforts.  Second year libero Jarrod Offereins (Calgary) recorded 30 digs over the weekend.

Offence
The Spartans have the fifth best offense in Canada West.  They are led by second year outside Steven Marshal and third year outside Marc Howatson (Victoria) who have 145 and 111 kills respectively.  Third year setter Ben Ball is fourth in Canada West with an average of 10.07 assists per game.  Second year outside Steven Marshall sits sixth in Canada West averaging .28 service aces per game.

Defence
Defence has been a strong spot for the Spartans this season.  They have held their opponents to a .210 attack percentage which is second in Canada West.  The Spartans are led by a pair of middle blockers, fourth year Josh Dornenbal (Edmonton) and third year Rudy Verhoeff (Calgary) have 46 and 41 blocks respectively.  Along with solid net play the Spartan are the top digging team in Canada West averaging 12.38 digs per game.  Second year libero Jared Offereins leads the team with 109 digs on the year.

Conclusion
The Spartans will look to avenge their losses from last weekend against a struggling Regina squad.  The Spartans can look to second year Steven Marshal and third year Marc Howatson to give their team an offensive spark.

AT A GLANCE
Spartans (6-4)                    
CIS Ranking 4th                    
Last Week: UofA 1-3 L, UofA1-3 L                             
2008 Conference: 11-7 (3rd)                
2008 CW Championship: 1-2             
2008 CIS Championship: NA                
Last CW Title: 2007                    
Last CIS Title:    2006                    

Regina (0-10)
CIS Ranking: NA
Last Week: UBC 0-3 L, UBC 0-3 L
2008 Conference: (2-16) (9th)
2008 CW Championship: NA
2008 CIS Championship: NA
Last CW Title: NA
Last CIS Title: NA

Last Updated: 2010-01-14
Author: Scott Stewart
Email: ssstew@twu.ca