VIDEO: MEN'S VOLLEYBALL HOSTS THOMPSON RIVERS IN HOME OPENER

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2010
WEEKEND PREVIEW

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VIDEO: MEN'S VOLLEYBALL HOSTS THOMPSON RIVERS IN HOME OPENER

LANGLEY, British Columbia - The No. 3 ranked Trinity Western men's volleyball team (2-0) return to Langley for its home opening weekend against the unranked Thompson Rivers WolfPack (0-0). The Spartans will play Friday at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. as they look to build upon a solid road weekend at UBC.

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SPARTANS (2-0)
CIS Ranking: 3rd
Canada West Standing: 1st  
Last Week: UBC 3-0 W, 3-1 W  
Streak: 2 Wins
2009-10 CW Record: 11-7, 4th
2010 CW Playoffs: 1-1, 2nd
2010 CIS Tournament: 2-1, 2nd
Last CW Title: 2007
Last CIS Title: 2006
TWU Lifetime vs TRU: 11-7

The Trinity Western men’s team did exactly what was expected in its season opening weekend sweep of UBC. Having played 28 preseason games, TWU looked in fine form in knocking off the T-Birds 3-0 and 3-1 on the road.

The Spartans only allowed the T-Birds to get more than 20 points in a set once and held them to an average of 18.1 points per set.

Through the first weekend, one that saw only four CW teams playing, TWU sits in first in CW in hitting percentage (.343), kills per game (13.43), blocks per game (3.57) and service aces per game (1.86). They are second in opponent hitting percentage (.175) and assists per game (12.29) and fourth in digs with just 9.71 per game.

In the opening weekend, 10 Spartans played in both matches with nine of them playing in at least five sets.

The Spartans were led by a combination of rookies, veterans and in-betweeners all weekend. Rudy Verhoeff led the team with 3.71 kills per game (3rd in CW) and 4.29 points per game (3rd in CW).

Dan Jansen Van Doorn had a conference leading .714 hitting percentage (1st in CW), which included 17 kills, while Nick Del Bianco was second with a .522 hitting percentage (2nd in CW) including 13 kills.

Josh Doornenbal averaged 2.71 kills per game, which is second on the team behind Verhoeff and sixth in CW.

Setter Ben Ball averaged 10.86 assists per game (1std in CW) while Lucas Van Berkel led the team with 0.57 service aces per game (2nd in CW) and 2.43 blocks per game (1st in CW).

This year, the Spartans are much bigger, evidenced by Van Berkel’s block totals, and will look to continue to utilize their height while also moving towards a ball control style.

WOLFPACK (0-0)
CIS Ranking: N/A
Canada West Standing: 3rd (tied)
Last Week: Did Not Play
Streak: N/A
2009-10 CW Record: 10-8, 6th
2010 CW Playoffs: 2-2, 4th
2010 CIS Tournament: 1-2
Last CW Title: N/A
Last CIS Title: N/A
TRU Lifetime vs TWU: 7-11

This year is the start of something new for Thompson Rivers men’s volleyball. The Wolfpack, who will be playing its first game of the year Friday, will move forward without Robin Schoebel, Behlul Yavasgel and Gord Perrin as the big three have moved on.

Last year, Perrin was second in Canada West with 4.56 kills per game and second in points with 5.06 per game, Schoebel was ninth in CW with 0.25 service aces per game, while Yavasgel was a starter in 15 of the 20 games he played.

Fortunately for the Pat Hennelly coached team, the Wolfpack has last year’s CIS Rookie of the Year outside hitter Kevin Tillie back in the fold and setter Colin Carson.  This summer, Tillie played with France’s Senior ‘B’ team and Carson played for Canada’s Junior National Team.

In his rookie year Tillie was first in service aces in CW with 0.47 per game, fourth in CW with 3.67 kills per game and fifth in CW with 4.36 points per game.

Carson led the conference with 11.00 assists per game and was sixth in CW with 0.29 service aces per game.

Also returning is Spencer Reed, who has taken over at libero, Joel Caschetto, Mike Hammond and Alex Davis.

Hennelly has recruited a number of veteran college transfers as well, including Aleks Saddlemyer (4th year, right side), Ryan Talsma (5th, right side), Adam LeBlanc (3rd, middle) and Darcy Barisoff (3rd, outside hitter), who had retired three years ago.

Last year, TRU was fourth in CW attacking with a .260 percentage, was fifth in opponent hitting percentage with .219, was second in assists with 12.0 per game, was third in kills with 12.83 per game and was second in service aces with 1.26 per game.

-TW-

Last Updated: 2010-11-03
Author: Mark Janzen