2007-08 Women's Volleyball Year in Review

Spartans Finish 15-8, 4th in Canada West Standings
Click here for audio interview with head coach Ryan Hofer

It was a bitter sweet year for the Spartans women’s volleyball team. They once again enjoyed great success by finishing with a 15-8 record, good for fourth spot and host of a first-round playoff series in the Canada West against the fifth seeded, and defending National Champion Alberta Pandas. After losing the best-of-three series 2-1, they were left to wonder what could have been as injuries derailed their hopes of returning to the CIS Nationals for a third straight season. TWU finished ranked sixth in the final TWU poll, and were ranked in the top 10 every week of the season.

Team captain Saralyn Stel (Delia, Alta.), a two-time Academic All-Canadian who was also Canada West rookie of the year back in 2003-04, was the winner of the CIS Thérèse Quigley Award for excellence in a student-athlete. She was third on the team in kills with 165 (2.32 per game) and second in digs with 180 (2.54 digs per game). Fifth year middle Liz Spear (Cloverdale, B.C.), who led the team in kill percentage (.304) and was second in kills (208), and fourth year middle Dayna Jansen Van Doorn (Langley, B.C.), who led the conference in total blocks (141) and solo blocks (38), were named second team Canada West all-stars. Those block totals for Jansen Van Doorn set single season school records, as did her total of block assists (103), and blocks per game (1.70).

Fifth year outside hitter Alicia Van Huizen (Surrey, B.C.) led in kills (210) and service aces (25), and was third in digs (173), while third year right side Kim Klassen (Abbotsford, B.C.) was second in total blocks (69) and fifth in kills (162). Fourth year setter Keanne Tome (Delta, B.C.) finished third in the Canada West with 9.54 set assists per game, and was fourth on the team with 159.

TWU, who started the season ranked eighth in the country, began the Canada West season with a home split against the Saskatchewan Huskies, winning 3-0 and losing 3-1. The next weekend they held a block party at TWU’s David E. Enarson gymnasium, and invited the Brandon Bobcats. In the Spartans’ 3-1 the first night the team set a school record for solo blocks with 11, and Jansen Van Doorn also set a record with eight solos. The next night TWU recorded 18 assist blocks in a 3-0 sweep.

The Spartans then welcomed in the defending National Champion Alberta Pandas, and also welcomed back former CIS Libero of the Year Julie McLeod, who was fighting through a back injury. TWU lost a five set thriller the first night as McLeod recorded a match-high 24 digs, but bounced back with a 3-0 win in the second match as Jansen Van Doorn had a team high 10 kills and nine blocks.

After three weeks at home, the Spartans hit the road for the last two weekends of the first semester, and while they had McLeod back they would lose Tome to injury for the next four matches. Freshman Chelsea Hudson (Winnipeg) filled in admirably, helping the team to four straight victories over Thompson Rivers and Winnipeg. At the semester break the Spartans were 8-2 and ranked seventh in the country.

While TWU would get Tome back healthy as prepared to start the second half of their schedule, they learned McLeod would be out for the rest of the season with a back injury. Andrea Ball (Abbotsford, B.C.), a second-year libero with junior national team experience, stepped in admirably for McLeod to give the Spartans another solid paser in the back row. The second semester started with two tough road losses to the top-ranked team in the CIS, the Manitoba Bisons. Now in fifth place in the Canada West, the Spartans returned home to the David E. Enarson Gymnasium to face the sixth place Regina Cougars. The Spartans won a tough match the first night 3-2, winning the fifth set 18-15 as Stel and Van Huizen each recorded 15 kills in the match. TWU had an easier time of it the second night winning 3-0 as four players had at least nine kills each.

With fifth place in hand, the Spartans hit the road the next two weekends with their sites on catching the Alberta Pandas for fourth, and a chance to host a first-round playoff series. TWU dropped two matches against the CIS third-ranked Calgary Dinos, but bounced back with consecutive 3-0 victories over the Simon Fraser Clan. The Spartans came home with two matches left against the second ranked UBC Thunderbirds, who had only lost one match all year. With the tie-breaker in hand with the Pandas, TWU needed two wins and a Pandas loss against Manitoba to claim fourth place in the conference.

With a capacity crowd on hand at the David E. for senior weekend, the Spartans shocked the T-Birds the first night with a swift 3-0 victory. The top blocking team in the conference all season long, TWU had 13 blocks, and got eight kills from Spear and seven apiece from Stel and Van Huizen. The final match on Senior Night was truly an epic, lasting almost three hours, and needing extra points in the third, fourth, and fifth sets. With each team taking a set, the T-Birds rallied late to win the third set 27-25, and the Spartans returned the favor by doing the same in the fourth to win 28-26. UBC jumped out to an early three point lead in the fifth and led 13-11 when the Spartans got a side out then recorded back-to-back points to reach match point. The T-Birds responded with two straight points forcing the Spartans to side out again to keep the match alive. Then seniors Spear and Van Huizen thumped back-to-back kills to give the Spartans the win. Stel and Klassen each finished with 14 kills while Tome set a Spartan record for a five set match with 55 set assists, and missed the overall match record by one. That win coupled with a Panda loss the next day gave the Spartans fourth place and homecourt against the U of A in their first round best-of-three Canada West playoff series.

The Spartans would have to face the Pandas without Stel and Klassen because of injury, and lost the opener 3-0 despite 18 kills from Van Huizen and 16 digs from Ball. TWU bounced back to even the series with a 3-1 victory, as Van Huizen led with 12 kills and Spear recorded 11. The third and deciding match of the series went the way of the Pandas, as they won 3-1 to advance to the Canada West Final Four, which they would go onto win. The Spartans got 13 kills from Van Huizen in her final match, and second year outside hitter Kara Jansen Van Doorn (Langley, B.C.), the younger sister of Dayna, had 12 kills.

TWU graduate four incredible seniors. Stel finishes as the Spartans all-time leader in kills (1040), points (1221), and attack attempts (3250), while Spear, in her three seasons as a Spartan since transferring in from Washington State University, leaves as TWU's all-time leader in kills-per-game at 2.69 and points-per-game 3.45. McLeod, the 2006 CIS Libero of the Year, is the Spartans career leader in digs (1574) and digs-per-game (4.10), and has the school's top three single-season totals for digs, and the top four seasons in digs-per-game. Van Huizen finishes second in matches played (125), fifth all-time in kills (636), fourth in attack attempts (1895), and third in service aces (86).

Spartans head coach Ryan Hofer will add three solid out-of-province recruits to his 2008 team. Amy Leschied (Selkirk, Man.) is a 6’0” middle who will shift to an outside hitter at TWU. The Manitoba provincial team member has done plenty of winning, as her high school team won the past four “AAAA” Manitoba provincial titles, and her club team won the 2007 Nationals as well as the past three Manitoba club provincials. Nicole Bazin (Winnipeg) is a 6’1” middle who was invited to train with the Canadian National Team’s training program, and was a member of the U17 Manitoba Provincial Team. She also finished first at the high school Provincials in high jump, long jump, and triple jump the past two seasons. Amber Brown (Three Hills, Alta.) is a 5'8" outside hitter who could also see time for the Spartans as a libero. She attended Prairie Christian Academy, where she was named the school's 2007 Female Athlete of the Year, and was also named the school's volleyball MVP for both the 2007 and 2006 seasons.

-TW- 

Last Updated: 2008-05-07
Author: Jeff Kilpatrick
Email: Jeffrey.Kilpatrick@twu.ca