WEEKEND PREVIEW: SPARTANS HOST COUGARS FOR HOME OPENER

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL (CANADA WEST)
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2011
WEEKEND PREVIEW

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WEEKEND PREVIEW: SPARTANS HOST COUGARS FOR HOME OPENER

LANGLEY, British Columbia – This weekend the No. 1 and defending CIS champion Trinity Western Spartans return to their home court for the first time since winning the 2011 national title. The Spartans, who have literally been all over the world in preseason play, will open up their home Canada West season against the University of Regina Cougars. The Fri., Nov. 18th match is scheduled for an 8 p.m. start, while the Sat., Nov. 19th match is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start. Saturday’s match will be preceded by the 2011 CIS championship banner raising ceremony.

Trinity Western Spartans (4-0)
Last Weekend: Brandon 3-0 W, 3-1 W
2011 CIS Rank: No. 1
2010-2011 CW Record: 13-5
2010-2011 CW Tournament: 3-1, 3rd
2010-2011 CIS Tournament: 3-0, 1st

The Trinity Western Spartans have had a stellar start to the season and look poised to repeat their 2011 CIS Championship title. With four games under their belt, the Spartans remain undefeated and hope to continue their streak in their first two games at home of the season.

Last weekend saw a game identical to that of the 2011 CIS Championship finals, as the Spartans and Bobcats met again to battle for supremacy. The Spartans never allowed the Bobcats a chance at redemption, as the Trinity Western team took three sets in a row to win the match. The first two sets ended in 25-22 scores in favour of the Spartans.

The third set finished the Bobcats with a 25-20 score for Trinity Western. The Spartans had a strong performance from Rudy Verhoeff during the first two sets, as he finished with 10 kills despite playing only the first two sets.

On the next day, the Spartans were able to continue their streak with their fourth win in a row. Despite a minor misstep in the second set that allowed the Bobcats to gain the upper hand in a 26-24 set, the Spartans were the dominant team. Trinity Western won the other three sets with scores of 25-21, 25-23, and 25-17. Once again Rudy Verhoeff led the team again with 15 kills, although the team effort saw 24 blocks by the Spartans.

Regina Cougars (3-3)
Last Weekend: Thompson Rivers 3-2 W, 3-0 W
2011 CIS Rank: N/A
2010-2011 CW Record: 2-16
2010-2011 CW Tournament: N/A
2010-2011 CIS Tournament: N/A

The Cougars have already exceeded last year’s record of two wins on the season. With six games down, the Cougars sit at .500 including a pair of upsets against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack from their last weekend on the court.

In the first of two games against the WolfPack, the Cougars were well matched by their Thompson Rivers opponent. The two teams exchanged sets until the end of the match, beginning with Regina’s 25-20 first set win over Thompson Rivers. The WolfPack fought back with a 25-23 set of their own, before finding themselves down 2-1 at the end of the third set which was 25-22 for the Cougars.

Despite the WolfPack coming back to tie the game once against by the end of the fourth set, the match went to the Cougars who outlasted the WolfPack by winning a 19-17 final set.

The next day was a very different game as the Cougars were on fire, keeping the WolfPack to 20 or less points per set. The first set was a 25-19 domination by the Cougars, with the next two sets keeping the pace with 25-20 set scores for Regina.

The Cougars had particularly strong offensive play from Jamie Wilkins and rookie Andrew Nelson, with a weekend total of 31 and 29 kills respectively.

Both matches will be played at the Langley Events Centre and will have live streaming and stats available on Canadawest.tv.

-TW-

Last Updated: 2011-11-17
Author: Mark Janzen
Email: Mark.Janzen@twu.ca