SEASON REWIND AND LOOK AHEAD: PART 7 - WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
MONDAY, APRIL 11, 2011
SEASON REWIND

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SEASON REWIND AND LOOK AHEAD: PART 7 - WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL

LANGLEY, British Columbia – After yet another outstanding year for the Spartans in the sporting arena and with the 2010-11 season just over a week away from being officially put to bed, we take a look back at each team and the season they had competing for Spartans Athletics and a look forward into what the future might hold in 2011-12.

Today: Women's Volleyball
April 12: Men's Basketball
April 13: Men's Volleyball

There was something just a little bit different about this year’s Trinity Western women’s volleyball team.

The theme for the season was “live free, play free” and for both the players and the Trinity Western community that motto resonated throughout a season that won’t soon be forgotten.

For the first time in Spartans history, the women’s volleyball team came home from the CIS national tournament with a medal. And while it was a somewhat bittersweet-flavoured bronze, it was still very much a remarkable accomplishment that rewarded the hard work this team put into what was the women’s volleyball program’s best ever season.

“I’ve never had a year like this when it’s so much fun and the girls get along so well,” said graduating outside hitter Kara Jansen Van Doorn. “There was a lot of unity on our team. Personalities meshed and the girls trusted each other. It’s just a sweet group of girls.”

Coming off a disappointing finish to the 2009-10 season – one in which they lost to Regina in the Canada West Final Four bronze medal game and thus came up one win shy of a national championship berth – the Spartans stormed out of the start gate with a purpose.

Opening the season on the road against the three-time defending CIS champions from UBC – and now four-time defending champions – the Spartans knocked off the Thunderbirds on back-to-back nights and sparked what would turn into a seven-game winning streak to start the year.

And by the Christmas break, the Spartans had a 9-1 record and were atop the conference standings having put together a nine-win fall semester for the first time in school history.

From there, the Spartans had a near two-month break between games as they didn’t hit the court until a weekend set with Calgary January 21.

But they didn’t seem to skip a beat. The Spartans, who went into the weekend ranked No. 1 in the country for the first time in school history, beat Calgary 3-1 and 3-0 and looked the part of a top-ranked team.

But then Saskatchewan happened.

The Spartans travelled to Saskatoon to play the Huskies and dropped their opening match 3-2 to previously one-win Saskatchewan.

It was a shock to the system. But in hindsight, it might not have been such a bad thing.

“It was good for us,” said libero Andrea Ball, who will graduate this year having played all five years of her university career in blue and gold. “It sucked at the time but it’s good to taste a little bit of defeat before you go into a Final Four or Nationals because I think there’s way more pressure if you’re undefeated.”

From that point on, the Spartans won four of their last five games – only losing to Brandon – en route to a 15-3 record and second place finish.

Trinity Western then beat Albert a in the semifinal of the Canada West Final Four to set up a match with UBC for the conference title. But just like in 2009, it was the Thunderbirds winning 3-2 in the gold medal match  and keeping Trinity Western from its first ever Canada West crown.

Despite the loss, their second place result was enough to send them to nationals as the No. 2 seed.

In their first match at nationals, the Spartans squeaked out a five-set win over Western Ontario to book a spot in the CIS semifinal for just the second time ever.

Playing the home team, Laval Rouge et Or, the Spartans suffered a tough 3-1 (27-25, 19-25, 28-26, 25-19) loss and saw their dreams of a national championship snuffed out.

The ultimate goal had become no longer achievable. Yet, something in this team, that something that was just a little bit different than previous years, gave them the energy to fight for one more day.

Although the national championship dream had vanished, the Spartans rallied to win the bronze medal with a 3-1 (25-14, 25-19, 18-25, 25-20) over Alberta.

“Our theme for the year was live free, play free,” Jansen Van Doorn said. “Some people were saying it was way easier to play free in that last game, which is kind of cool and a good way to end the season, playing free and for each other.”

The Spartans finished the year as the top defensive team in Canada West as they held opponents to a league-leading hitting percentage of just 11.1 per cent while also averaging 2.53 blocks per set, which was second in the conference.

Individually Kara Jansen Van Doorn was the Spartans leader all year as she led Canada West in kills with 3.67 per set, was tied for fourth in the conference in aces with 0.46 per set and was 10th in Canada West with a hitting percentage of 24.8 per cent.

Rookie Alicia Perrin was second in Canada West in blocks with 1.26 per set and ninth in the conference in hitting percentage at 25.0 per cent.

Nicole Bazin finished the year tied for fifth in Canada West with 1.00 blocks per set while Ball was third in the conference in digs with 3.91 per set. Lauren O’Reilly finished with 8.95 assists per set.

The women’s volleyball team was recognized with a number of post-season awards led by Jansen Van Doorn who took home the women’s Spartan Athlete of the Year award, was a recipient of the Spartan Complete Champion AwardTM and was a CIS First Team All-Canadian.

Alicia Perrin was both the Canada West Rookie of the Year, was named to the CIS All-Rookie Team and was the women’s Spartan Rookie of the Year.

Coach Ryan Hofer was both the Canada West and CIS Coach of the Year and O’Reilly was named a CIS Championship Tournament All-Star.

A LOOK AHEAD…

After the best season in Spartans women’s volleyball history, Trinity Western will forge ahead looking to better their CIS bronze medal in 2011-12, but will have to do so without Jansen Van Doorn and Ball, who graduate this year, and potentially setter Lauren O’Reilly, whose future at Trinity Western is still up as she will once again be with Team Canada in the fall.
 
But despite the holes the Spartans will have to fill, there is plenty of reason for optimism as the team looks toward the fall.

Returning to the floor will be outside hitter Amber Brown, who redshirted last year with an injury, and will no doubt be a big spark for the Spartans.

And Brown will be joined by a bevy of talent that earned plenty of experience this year in Nicole Bazin, who had a breakout year at middle, CIS Rookie of the Year Alicia Perrin, powerful outside hitter and Canada West Second Team All-Star Amy Leschied, fifth-year setter Chelsea Hudson, who was the starter in the fall last year and occasionally spelled O’Reilly throughout the rest the season, outside hitter Chelsea Wand, who had an impressive 2010-11 campaign, veteran libero Jodi Neufeld and rookies Carly Hamilton and Royale Richardson.

Replacing a CIS First Team All-Star in Jansen Van Doorn, one of the conference’s best liberos and possibly a Canadian national team setter won’t be easy but the Spartans have some key players already in place, and valuable recruits on the way that should keep Trinity Western very much in national contention.

Last Updated: 2011-04-11
Author: Mark Janzen
Email: Mark.Janzen@twu.ca