VIDEO: WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL HOSTS REGINA IN OPENING ROUND OF PLAYOFFS

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2011
PLAYOFF PREVIEW

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL HOSTS REGINA IN OPENING ROUND OF PLAYOFFS

LANGLEY, British Columbia - The No. 3 Trinity Western women's volleyball team (15-3) will host the No. 10 Regina Cougars (8-10) in the opening round of the Canada West playoffs. The winner of the best-of-three series will travel to UBC to play in the Canada West Final Four.

Game times are Thursday and Friday at 6:15 p.m. and Saturday, if necessary, at either 5:00 p.m. (if both men’s and women’s series go to three games) or 7:00 p.m.(if just the women are playing) at the Langley Events Centre.

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SPARTANS (15-3)
CIS Ranking: 3rd
Canada West Standing: 2nd  
Last Week: Manitoba 3-0 W, 3-1 W
Streak: 2 Wins
2009-10 CW Record: 13-7, 3rd
2010 CW Playoffs: 0-2
2010 CIS Tournament: N/A
Last CW Title: N/A
Last CIS Title: N/A
TWU Lifetime vs Regina: 11-18

For the Spartans, this weekend is an opportunity to do to Regina what Regina did to them last year. That being knock them out of the playoffs.

Last year, Trinity Western was one win away from qualifying for the national championship. After losing to Manitoba in the first game of the Canada West Final Four, TWU was forced to play in a do-or-die match against Regina for a berth at nationals.

But after a five-set match, it was Regina on top 3-2 (25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-12) and heading to Edmonton for the national tournament and Trinity Western heading home.

So this year, with six of the nine players who played in last year’s season-ending match back for TWU, and with home-court advantage, the Spartans have a chance to not only send Regina packing but also get one step closer towards that national championship berth.

Trinity Western comes into this weekend’s best-of-three series brimming with confidence after beating then No. 5 ranked Manitoba 3-0 and 3-1 last Friday and Saturday. After losing to Brandon the previous Saturday, the two wins over Manitoba was a huge leap in the right direction.

Against a team in Manitoba that came into the weekend with a conference-best hitting percentage of 25.1 per cent, the Spartans managed to hold the Bisons to just 8.5 per cent all weekend. They also held Ashley Voth, the conference-leader in hitting percentage at 42.4 per cent, to just 22.2 per cent, including keeping her at 0.0 per cent on Saturday.

The Spartans also were a dominant serving team against the Bisons as they had 22 aces in just seven sets, led by Chelsea Hudson who had six in the two games combined and Kara Jansen Van Doorn, who had five.

The last time Regina and Trinity Western hooked up was in the Saskatchewan capital earlier this year. While the Spartans did win both games, the victories didn’t come easily. The Spartans won the first night in four sets but on Saturday were forced to go the distance before securing a win in the fifth set. Jansen Van Doorn had a 38-kill weekend to lead TWU.

COUGARS (8-10)
CIS Ranking: 10th
Canada West Standing: 7th  
Last Week: Saskatchewan 3-1 W, 3-0 W
Streak: 2 Wins
2009-10 CW Record: 13-7, 4th
2010 CW Playoffs: 3-1, 3rd
2010 CIS Tournament: 2-1, 5th
Last CW Title: N/A
Last CIS Title: N/A
Regina Lifetime vs TWU: 18-11

While the Cougars enter the Canada West playoffs as the only team below .500 and finishing seven games behind the second-place Spartans, there is plenty to be excited about as they take on Trinity Western.

Regina comes into this weekend winners of their last two games, 3-1 and 3-0 victories over Saskatchewan, and with the confidence they can play with TWU, after taking the Spartans to five sets earlier this year.

The Cougars also have history on their side. Last year’s Canada West Final Four elimination game win over TWU that sent Regina to nationals should go a long way in helping the confidence of the Cougars as they walk into the Langley Events Centre.

Seven of the nine players who played in that playoff game last year are back – Beth Clark and Meagan Smith being the missing pieces – and that includes Meagan Onstad, who had a game-high 20 kills and 20 digs to lead the Cougars that night, setter Tiffany Herman, who had 52 assists in the match and libero Rebecca Rink, who had 10 digs.

So with all of that, despite their underdog status, Regina will arrive in Langley ready to play and ready to scrap and fight for every point.

Leading Regina, a team that has earned wins over No. 7 Manitoba and No. 8 Brandon this year, has been Onstad, who had 2.98 kills per set, and setter Tiffany Herman, who averaged a league-leading 10.19 assists per set.

In the series between these two teams this year, the Cougars dropped both games but did present the Spartans with a balanced attack that kept TWU on its toes, especially on Saturday when they had four players hit double-digit kills, led by Onstad’s 18 and Kaitlyn Hughes’ 14.  Interestingly, Saturday’s loss to TWU was the only five-set game Regina played in all year.

-TW-

Last Updated: 2011-02-16
Author: Mark Janzen
Email: Mark.Janzen@twu.ca