MEN'S VOLLEYBALL SET FOR BUSY 2010-11 SEASON

Ben Ball

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL (ANNOUNCEMENT)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 23, 2010
SCHEDULE RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL SET FOR BUSY 2010-11 SEASON

LANGLEY, British Columbia - For the men’s volleyball team, the 2010-11 campaign looks to be a voyage of epic proportions.

As hosts of the 2011 CIS Championship (March 4-6), the Spartans know where and when their season will end. It’s just a matter of getting to their final destination in peak form. And coach Ben Josephson’s plan is to give this year’s squad plenty of preparation before they step onto the big stage.

The Spartans will play in four tournaments this year, play 11 exhibition games and compete in 18 regular season contests. This, all before the playoffs start.

All told, it will be a busy schedule, but one that should have them more than ready to defend their home court at the national championship.

“We have a young team again and with the luxury of hosting the national tournament we have the opportunity to get lots of different guys in and start to develop the next cycle while pushing to find championship rhythm with the first unit,” Josephson said.  “We have a big and deep roster so it is important to get lots of opportunity to evaluate on-court performance both live and to get some good game film to evaluate with the athletes.”

Like last year, the Spartans open the regular season against UBC (October 29-30) but this time the game will be contested at the Thunderbirds’ War Memorial Gym.

The following weekend (November 5-6), TWU will host Thompson Rivers in the Spartans home-opener.

The rematch of the 2010 CIS Championship gold medal game, in which the Spartans lost to the Calgary Dinos, will take place January 21-22 at the Langley Events Centre.

The Spartans will also host two tournaments this year including the Christian School’s Cup (October 15-17) and the Spartans Christmas Tournament (January 2-4).

The exhibition portion of the schedule is highlighted by a trip to Eastern Canada where they will play three games against both the University of New Brunswick and Dalhousie University.

When TWU takes the floor this year, Spartans fans will be very familiar with the team as TWU didn’t have a single player graduate.

Joining the Spartans this year will be three highly anticipated recruits, who make up arguably the best Spartans recruiting class ever, in Nick Del Bianco, Devyn Plett and Branden Schmidt.

CANADA WEST HOME SCHEDULE

11/05 THOMPSON RIVERS 8PM
11/06 THOMPSON RIVERS 7PM
11/26 WINNIPEG 8PM
11/27 WINNIPEG 7PM
01/21 CALGARY 8PM
01/22 CALGARY 7PM
02/11 MANITOBA 8PM
02/12 MANITOBA 7PM


About TWU:

Trinity Western University, located in Langley, B.C., is a not-for-profit Christian liberal arts university enrolling over 4,000 students this year. With a broad based, liberal arts and sciences curriculum, the University offers undergraduate degrees in 41 major areas of study ranging from business, education and computer science to biology and nursing, and 17 other graduate degrees including counselling psychology, theology and administrative leadership. For more information, visit TWU's Official Athletics site at gospartans.ca.

About Canadian Interuniversity Sport:

Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-two universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. The CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, and 32 World University Championships. For further information, visit www.universitysport.ca.

About CWUAA:

"Canada West is consistently the most decorated of the four conferences in Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), winning at least 10 CIS national titles every year since 1997-98. Comprised of 13 schools, from Manitoba to B.C., the CWUAA produces numerous major award winners and Academic All-Canadian student-athletes each year, with many going on to athletic success around the globe in events such as the Olympics or Universiade Games."

-TW-

Last Updated: 2010-06-23
Author: Mark Janzen