CANADA FINISHES 11TH AT MEN’S WORLD JUNIOR VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
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| Lucas Van Berkel |
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 10, 2011
WORLD JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CANADA FINISHES 11TH AT MEN’S WORLD JUNIOR VOLLEYBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
NITEROI, Brazil – Team Canada’s junior men’s national team defeated Japan 3-0 (25-23, 25-20 and 25-19) Wednesday morning to finish in 11th place at the men’s world junior volleyball championships.
Click here to watch a replay of the game.
Tommy Belisle of Quebec City led the way for Canada with 18 points, but not far behind were Trinity Western’s Lucas Van Berkel (Edmonton, Alta.), who had nine points, and Brad Kufske (Abbotsford, B.C.), who had five points in the win. The Spartans Branden Schmidt (Winton, Alta.) was dressed but he did not play while TWU’s Derek Thiessen (Coquitlam, B.C.) made the team but did not travel to Brazil.
In the first set, Japan led after the first and second technical timeouts but Canada stayed close. Finally the North Americans tied it 23 -23, and then managed to turn the set to their side, closing it at 25-23.
“We didn’t finish the competition the way we wanted, but we are happy with the victory,’’ said Canadian team captain TJ Sanders of London, Ont.
From there, the red and white put together an impressively dominant performance as they swept Japan in a match that lasted less than an hour and fifteen minutes.
Canada got 31 points out of their opponents errors, while Japan only got 21 points.
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“We are very happy. We worked hard, used our strength. It was a better match than yesterday,’’ said Canada’s head coach Georges Laplante.
After starting the tournament with three straight losses, Canada rallied in the second round with three straight wins to earn a shot at ninth place. A four-set loss to Germany forced them into the 11th place game against Japan.
Kufske finished the tournament with 80 points in eight matches, which included a 19-kill effort, his best of the competition, against Egypt in a five-set second round win. Van Berkel collected a total of 77 points in the tournament, including a particularly effective eight-block game against semifinal bound Serbia. Schmidt saw action in six sets but did not register a point.
For more information: www.volleyball.ca and www.fivb.org
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.
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Last Updated: 2011-08-10
Email: Mark.Janzen@twu.ca