SPARTANS OPEN WESTCOAST CLASSIC AT HOME AGAINST HEAT

Ryan HOfer

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL (PRE-SEASON)
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2011
UBC-OKANAGAN AT WEST COAST CLASSIC

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPARTANS OPEN WESTCOAST CLASSIC AT HOME AGAINST HEAT

LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Spartans women’s volleyball team will take to the court at the LEC for the first time this preseason in a pre-season battle against the UBC-Okanagan Heat at the West Coast Classic Tournament. The match will take place at 6 p.m. on Friday, October 14 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The remainder of the West Coast Classic will be played at the University of British Columbia.

Trinity Western University Spartans (0-1 preseason)
CIS ranking: No. 3
Canada West Ranking: N/A
2010-2011 Canada West Record: 15-3, 2nd
2010-2011 Canada West Tournament: 2nd
2010-2011 CIS Championship: 3rd

Back on the home court at the Langley Events Centre, Langley, B.C. the Spartans will welcome new CIS member UBC-O Heat for their first game of the West Coast Classic Tournament. After a successful year in which the Spartans garnered a Bronze medal in the CIS championship, the Spartans face the pressure of improving upon last year’s result.

In their first and only preseason game thus far, the Spartans played Seattle University at the Redhawks home court in Seattle. The Spartans struggled against the NCAA Div. I Seattle U team, and ended up falling in three sets to the Redhawks. In the first set the Redhawks staged a late comeback, barely managing to overcome the Spartans 25-23. The second set was the won off another strong effort from the home team, who beat Trinity Western 25-17. The final set was controlled from the start by the Redhawks as they finished the Spartans off, 25-14.

UBC-Okanagan Heat
CIS ranking: N/A
Canada West Ranking: N/A
2010-2011 PacWest Record: 13-1, 1st
2010-2011 BCCAA Tournament: 1st

Approaching their first regular season as in the Canada West Conference, the Heat have shown talent in preseason play, with respectable results in the Lea Marc Tournament hosted by the University of Winnipeg.

In the five matches that the Heat played, they lost only twice – to the University of Winnipeg and the University of Manitoba. The Heat dropped the University of Toronto and University of Regina in three sets each, showing that the young Okanagan team is up for the Canada West challenge.

 In the Bronze Medal match against the Brandon Bobcats the Heat were able to dispatch the Bobcats in four sets (23-25, 25-15, 26-24, 25-20) in order to claim the third-place finish. Over the weekend the Heat had consistently excellent play from hitter Myrte Schӧn, who was selected to the tournament All-Star team.

The two teams will continue play at the West Coast Classic on Saturday and Sunday at UBC’s War Memorial gym.

Friday Oct. 14, 2011
3:30pm - UBC vs Alberta
6:00pm - UBC Okanagan vs Trinity Western (at Langley Events Centre)
7:00pm - UBC vs Thompson Rivers

Saturday Oct. 15
9:30am - Thompson Rivers vs UBC-O
11:30am - Trinity Western vs Alberta
1:30pm - UBC vs UBC Okanagan
3:30pm - Thompson Rivers vs Alberta

Sunday Oct. 16
9:30am - Trinity Western vs Thompson Rivers
11:15am - Alberta vs UBC Okanagan
1:00pm - UBC vs Trinity Western

-TW-

Last Updated: 2011-10-13
Author: Scott Stewart
Email: ssstew@twu.ca