VIDEO: NO. 4 RANKED MEN'S VOLLEYBALL HOSTS NO. 5 MANITOBA
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2011
WEEKEND PREVIEW
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VIDEO: NO. 4 RANKED MEN'S VOLLEYBALL HOSTS NO. 5 MANITOBA
LANGLEY, British Columbia - The No. 4 ranked Trinity Western men's volleyball team (11-5) return home this weekend to face No. 5 Manitoba (11-5) in both teams' final regular season games of the year. Game times are Friday at 8:00 p.m. and Saturday at 7:00 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.
Fifth-year seniors Josh Doornenbal, Mikiah Schalk and Aaron Vandenbrink will be honoured after the game as it will be their final regular season games playing for TWU.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE GAME LIVE
SPARTANS (11-5)
CIS Ranking: 4th
Canada West Standing: 4th
Last Week: Brandon 3-1 W, 3-1 L
Streak: 1 Loss
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 Manitoba: 8-17
This weekend’s tilt with the No.5 ranked Manitoba Bisons will be a battle for third place in the Canada West standings, with the winner likely playing UBC or Thompson Rivers and the loser likely hosting Brandon.
So for the Spartans, if they sweep the series, they’ll finish in third place. If they split the series, it’ll come down to sets won versus sets lost and a bit of math. And if they get swept, they will find themselves in fourth place.
But while earning third place would be advantageous in the first round of the playoffs, the Spartans are more concerned with getting wins so they can enter the post-season on something of a roll.
In the Spartans last six matches they are 3-3, which includes a pair of losses to Calgary, a sweep of Saskatchewan and a split with Brandon. And with this being the last weekend of the regular season and with the highly ranked Bisons in town, the opportunity is there for TWU to garner some momentum against a worthy opponent as they go into the playoffs.
In the loss to Brandon last Saturday, the Spartans struggled on the attack, only hitting 16.0 per cent as a team and in the fourth and final set, TWU hit at a rate of -3.1 per cent.
Add it all up and in the two games combined last weekend, hitting just 19.4 per cent while allowing Brandon to hit 20.9 per cent. This was well off the Spartans season average of 25.8 per cent attacking (4th in CW) and 18.8 per cent on the defence (3rd in CW).
After another successful blocking weekend in which TWU stuffed Manitoba 3.44 times per set, the Spartans maintained their CW-leading 3.34 blocks per set. The Spartans are also leading the conference in service aces with 1.34 per set.
Rudy Verhoeff had another strong weekend against Brandon, registering 31 kills, as he continues to lead TWU with 3.73 kills per set (5th in CW). Lucas Van Berkel is leading the team in attacking efficiency at 33.7 per cent (5th in CW) and blocks, with 1.60 per set (1st in CW). Setter Ben Ball is third in the conference in assists with 10.74 per game.
BISONS (11-5)
CIS Ranking: 5th
Canada West Standing: 3rd
Last Week: Calgary 3-0 L, 3-0 L
Streak: 4 Losses
2009-10 CW Record: 9-9, 7th
2010 CW Playoffs: 0-2
2010 CIS Tournament: N/A
Last CW Title: 2003
Last CIS Title: 2003
Manitoba Lifetime vs TWU: 17-8
The Bisons have just recently hit the heart of their schedule. And things haven’t gone very well.
First, Manitoba hosted No. 2 Alberta Jan. 21-22 and lost both matches in five set duals. Then, after a bye week, No. 3 Calgary arrived in town Feb. 4-5 and promptly knocked off the Bisons in a straight sets two-game sweep. And now they find themselves on the road against the No. 4 Trinity Western Spartans.
The Bisons went into this part of their schedule with an 11-1 record and a shot at first place. But since a weekend sweep of Saskatchewan to start the second half of the season, Manitoba has come up short four games in a row and now will need at the very least a split and, more than likely, a sweep just to finish in third place.
Like the Spartans, just to a slightly lesser degree, the strength of the Bisons game has been their blocking as they are averaging 2.98 blocks per set and have two blockers in the Canada West top 10, including Joseph Brooks, who is second in the conference with 1.27 blocks per set. Dane Pischke is the other at 0.93 per set.
Manitoba is averaging 25.2 per cent attacking (5th in CW) while the opposition is hitting 20.4 per cent (5th in CW) against the Bisons. Manitoba is fourth in the conference in digs with 10.13 per set.
The Bisons Pischke is leading his team in kills with 3.22 per set (9th in CW) while Derek Nieroda is second in CW with 2.81 digs per set and Ryan Munt is ninth with 2.07 per set.
Setter Chris Komishon is sixth in the conference with 8.78 assists per set.
-TW-
Last Updated: 2011-02-09
Email: Mark.Janzen@twu.ca