CURRENT AND FORMER SPARTANS TEAM UP ON THE BEACH
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| Chaim Schalk (left) and Steve Marshall at Center of Gravity in Kelowna, B.C. |
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
FRIDAY, AUGUST 5, 2011
SCHALK AND MARSHALL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CURRENT AND FORMER SPARTANS TEAM UP ON THE BEACH
LANGLEY, British Columbia – Trinity Western University men’s volleyball leftside Steve Marshall and former Spartans setter Chaim Schalk will join forces on the beach this August as they will compete together in three tournaments, including two in Europe.
Schalk, whose partner Martin Reader went down with what is likely a season-ending back injury at the FIVB World Tour event in Quebec, will team with Marshall, who has played with Matt Zbyszewski this summer, for the B.C. Provincial Championships at Kitsilano Beach in Vancouver Aug. 6-7 and an Austrian national tour event in Wolfurt, Austria Aug. 12-14 before attempting to qualify for the Paf Open, an FIVB World Tour event in Aland, Finland Aug. 16-21.
“We get along really well. We’re really good friends and it’s a lot of fun playing together,” Marshall said. “[Chaim] is one of the guys from Trinity Western that I looked up to so I have a lot of respect for him. When I play with him it’s easy to let things go because I know he’s good player and he’ll make good plays when it matters.”
While both players are defence first with their usual partners, Schalk is confident they can work out a system in short order that will be successful at the most prominent level.
“We’ve been learning how to block better in recent training sessions,” Schalk said. “We’re both the guys who play in the back court but, because of that, we both have really good ball control and defensive abilities so I think that will help us have a good side out. At the highest level it’s all about the side out and I think Steve and I should be able to side out at that level.
“Steve’s a very talented athlete and I think we have a pretty good dynamic between the two of us and we get along really well. It’s only going to be for a few weeks but I think we’ll have some success and have some fun.”
With Zbyszewski, Marshall finished second at the Vancouver Open and third at Center of Gravity in Kelowna, B.C this past weekend. Schalk and Reader finished third at the Vancouver Open while Schalk and Great Britain beach national team player Jody Gooding finished ninth at Center of Gravity. Schalk and Reader were also part of the Canadian contingent that won the 2011 Continental Cup.
Schalk and Marshall were teammates for one year at Trinity Western, 2008-09, but were never on the court together as Marshall was redshirting in Schalk’s fifth and final year as a Spartan.
After a year away from indoor volleyball competition, Marshall plans to return to Trinity Western this fall and join the defending CIS national champion Spartans. In 2009-10 – his only year on the court with TWU – Marshall was third in Canada West with 3.85 kills per set.
Schalk played three years at Trinity Western and is second all-time in career assists with 1259 in 190 games. He trails current Canadian national team member Josh Howatson who had 3451 assists in 386 games from 2003-06.
About Spartan Athletics
Since Trinity Western entered the CIS in 1999, Spartan student-athletes have accumulated a number of significant awards including a CIS Athlete of the Year (BLG) award, four CIS Player of the Year awards, a CIS Elite Eight Academic All-Canadian award, three CIS Rookie of the Year awards, a CIS Libero of the Year award, three CIS community service awards and numerous CIS All-Canadian and Canada West All-Star awards. In twelve years as members of the CIS, the Spartans have won six national titles (women’s soccer in 2004, 2008, 2009 and men’s volleyball in 2006, 2011), 15 CIS championship medals, an individual CIS championship in track and seven Canada West championships.
About TWU
Trinity Western University, in Langley, BC, is a provincially chartered, independent Christian liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies university, enrolling approximately 4000 students. TWU offers 42 undergraduate majors, ranging from biotechnology, education, theatre and music, to psychology, communications and biblical studies. TWU's 16 graduate degree programs include nursing, counselling psychology, marriage and family therapy, business, theology, linguistics, and leadership, and interdisciplinary degrees in English, philosophy and history. TWU holds Canada Research Chairs in Dead Sea Scroll Studies, Developmental Genetics and Disease, and Interpretation, Religion & Culture.
About Canada West Universities Athletic Association
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, 1997 to 2010. Comprised of 14 schools, from the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, 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 pro leagues or events such as the Olympics, Paralympics or Universiade Games. “cwuaa” on Twitter.
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-one universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca.
-TW-
Last Updated: 2011-08-05
Email: Mark.Janzen@twu.ca