SPARTANS BATTLE HEAT IN FINAL HOME WEEKEND OF 2011

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL (CANADA WEST)
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2011
UBC-OKANAGAN PREVIEW

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPARTANS BATTLE HEAT IN FINAL HOME WEEKEND OF 2011

LANGLEY, British Columbia - The Spartans will play their last game at home until 2012 against the UBC Okanagan Heat in a two game series at the Langley Events Centre. Games will take place at 8 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday and will be available through live streaming video and live stats through canadwest.tv.

Trinity Western Spartans (6-0)
Last Weekend: Regina 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

Last weekend the Spartans hosted the Regina Cougars for the Trinity Western home opener at the Langley Events Centre. The Spartans are looking primed to defend their CIS Championship title this year, and remain No. 1 in the CIS rankings.

In the first of two games between the Spartans and Cougars the Spartans came out ready to win. The Spartans were quick to take the lead, and made short work of the Cougars in the first set with a 25-16 win. In the second set the Spartans were even more dominant, keeping the Cougars to just 10 points and taking the second set 25-10.

The third set saw the Cougars make a game of it, as they managed to take the lead for most of the game, but the Spartans rallied to come back and win the set and the match with a score of 25-23.

With their perfect record on the line, the Spartans went head to head with the Cougars again on the following evening. In the first match the Spartans once again ruled the court, as they beat Regina in a 25-10 set. In the next set the Cougars shocked the Spartans and managed to come out on top with a 25-19 set victory.

In the following to sets the Spartans made no mistake in dispatching the Regina Cougars, and came away with set victories with scores of 25-16 and 25-15.

The Spartans had a brick wall in Lucas Van Berkel, who registered 12 blocks in the games. The Spartans also managed a total 18 service aces.

UBC Okanagan Heat (3-3)
Last Weekend: Manitoba 3-0 L, 3-0 L
2011 CIS Rank: No. 9
2010-2011 CW Record: N/A
2010-2011 CW Tournament: N/A
2010-2011 CIS Tournament: N/A

The Heat started their season with a string of surprise wins that put them on the CIS rankings, but now find themselves mired in a losing streak half their season long. Their redemption comes from the fact that all of their losses came against highly ranked opponents.

For instance, last weekend the Heat played against the unbeaten No. 3 Manitoba Bison. Despite the hot streak that the Bison are currently on, the Heat kept the No. 3 team in check. In the first set the Bison edged UBC-O by a score of 25-23 to get the first win.

In the next set the Heat were able to score the first two points, but quickly lost the lead for good. Despite a valiant effort, UBC-O lost 25-20 to find themselves down 2-0 in the match.  The Heat were not able to recover and in the third trailed the Bison from the first point, making it a 25-17 win for the Bison in the third set to take the game.

In game two of the series the teams settled the rematch in a quick three sets as the Heat were never able to finish a game on top. The first two sets were led from opening serve to final kill by the Manitoba Bison, and resulted in scores of 25-19 and 25-22 in the first and second sets, respectively. The Heat came on strong in the third set, and managed to take a lead for a short portion of the game, but ultimately fell to the Bison by a score of 25-20.

Nate Speijer led the Heat with 25 kills over the pair of games, and in game two led the teams in digs with seven.

The Spartans and Heat have never met in regular season play, but in their last preseason series at the Surrey Christian on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 the Spartans took both games with scores of 3-1 and 3-2, respectively.

-TW-

Last Updated: 2011-11-24
Author: Mark Janzen
Email: Mark.Janzen@twu.ca