SPARTANS VOLLEYBALL KILLING IT ON NATIONAL SCENE

Branden Schmidt

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL (ANNOUNCEMENT)
MONDAY, JULY 26, 2010
NATIONALS

SPARTANS VOLLEYBALL KILLING IT ON NATIONAL SCENE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LANGLEY, British Columbia – If this past weekend was any indication, the future of the Trinity Western University men’s volleyball team looks seriously bright.

The men’s 2010 National Team Challenge Cup was played in Toronto from July 22-25 and next wave of impact Spartans were very much at the forefront of the competition as Devyn Plett, Lucas Van Berkel, Branden Schmidt, Brad Kufske and Derek Thiessen all represented their respective provinces on the 19U stage.

Plett, who will join the Spartans this fall after graduating from Winnipeg’s Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute, continued to add to his perfect season of championships by helping lead Manitoba to a gold medal win over Alberta (25-19, 21-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-11).

 The victory added to Plett’s 2009-10 hardware haul that includes a high school provincial championship, a club provincial championship and a club national championship.

"I'm really happy for Devyn and his Manitoba teammates in their NTCC championship,” said Spartans coach Ben Josephson. “It’s another great achievement in a season of dreams for Devyn. I am confident he will bring his success streak to our team in Langley."

While Plett came out on the winning end of the gold medal match, his future TWU teammates from Alberta, Van Berkel and Schmidt, were both named to the Junior National Team after the tournament and will begin training immediately as the squad prepares for the 2010 NORCECA Junior Men's Continental Championship that will take place in Gatineau, Que. from August 16-21.

"I'm ecstatic for Lucas and Branden to be selected to the Junior National Team for this summer,” Josephson said. “The added training with our country's finest players and coaches will do wonders for their game and open their eyes further to the international level.  It’s going to be a great experience for them to wear our country's flag on their chest and to compete to earn a berth in next year's world championships."

Van Berkel and Schmidt join current Spartans Rudy Verhoeff and Marc Howatson on the national scene – with the latter two training with the Senior B Team this summer – and former Spartan Josh Howatson, who is currently with the Senior team preparing for the world championships.

The Spartans other two representatives at the NTCC, Kufske and Thiessen, sported the colours of Team B.C. and helped their team to a fifth place finish after beating Saskatchewan in their last game (25-20, 23-25, 22-25, 25-17, 15-12).

For Kufske, it was a frustrating event as he rolled his ankle in his team’s first game and was unable to play the rest of the tournament.

"I'm really sad for Brad,” Josephson said. “He was eager to go to the NTCC tournament and help his team compete for the championship and show his stuff for the national team coaches.  Unfortunately injuries are part of sport and his ankle injury ended both of his goals for this summer.  Brad is a very tough and resilient kid, I know this minor setback will only push him to train harder and perform better for the Spartans this fall."

Thiessen, on the other hand, was playing in his first major tournament in nearly a year after having ACL surgery last summer and used the competition as an opportunity to play catch up.

"This summer was a great summer for Derek to get back into the flow of volleyball,” Josephson said. “After being off for nearly a year, the Team BC training and the NTCC competition was just what he needed to start to make up for lost time. I have been told he played great and he is excited to get on the court at TWU to continue to improve."

The Spartans men’s volleyball team enters the 2010-11 season after winning a silver medal at last year’s CIS Championship and will host this year’s CIS Championship tournament from March 4 -6, 2011.

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: 2010-07-26
Author: Mark Janzen