For a fourth consecutive season, the Trinity Western Spartans go to the U SPORTS Championship as the Canada West champions and the No. 1 seed in the tournament. TWU does so after a resounding three-set win over Mount Royal in the Canada West final, as the Spartans continued their run of dominance in the conference, having become just the third program in Canada West history to win four straight championships.
Now, the Spartans head to nationals looking to defend their U SPORTS Championship – one they won in 2022 with a win over MRU in the gold medal match. TWU will also be pursuing a fifth consecutive banner, having won every single available championship since 2019 – winning Canada West gold in 2020, 2022 and 2023 and the U SPORTS title last year.
On the strength of a balanced line-up that features six senior athletes in prominent roles, the Spartans have been nearly unstoppable this year, posting a 36-3 overall record while also riding a 14-match winning streak into the national championship.
All games of the 2023 U SPORTS Championship will be streamed live on the CBC Sports YouTube Channel.
2023 U SPORTS Championship Seeding
1. Trinity Western Spartans (CW champions: 22-2 regular season, 5-0 playoffs)
2. Brock Badgers (OUA champions: 18-2, 3-0)
3. Mount Royal Cougars (CW finalists: 19-5, 4-1)
4. UQAM Citadins (RSEQ champions: 13-5, 4-0)
5. Dalhousie Tigers (AUS champions: 17-3, 4-1)
6. Manitoba Bisons (CW bronze medallists: 14-10, 3-2)
7. UBC Thunderbirds (hosts: 18-6, 0-2)
8. McGill Martlets (RSEQ finalists: 12-6, 2-3)
All four quarterfinals will be played on Friday, as follows: (all times Pacific)
1 p.m.: No. 5 Dalhousie vs. No. 4 UQAM
3 p.m.: No. 8 McGill vs. No. 1 Trinity Western
6 p.m.: No. 2 Brock at No. 7 UBC
8 p.m.: No. 6 Manitoba vs. No. 3 Mount Royal
Consolation games will take place on Saturday at 1 and 3 p.m., with the semifinals set for 6 and 8 p.m. On Sunday, the fifth-place game is set for noon, with the bronze medal game following at 2 p.m. and the championship game at 4:30 p.m.
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All 11 games from the eight-team competition will be webcast live on CBC Sports digital platforms (English) and USPORTS.ca (French), up to and including Sunday’s gold medal game. The full webcast schedule will be available throughout the tournament at usports.ca/en/broadcast.
Championship website: usports.ca/en/championships/volleyball/f
HOW WE GOT HERE
For the third straight season, the Spartans finished the regular season with the best record in Canada West, owning a 22-2 mark, which included an 81-18 difference betweenin sets won and sets lost. Over the last three seasons, the Spartans have a record of 59-5 in the regular season.
The Spartans capped the regular season with nine straight wins before going on to win five in a row in the Canada West playoffs to capture the conference title.
CONFERENCE HONOURS
The regular season champion Spartans earned a conference-leading five Canada West individual honours, including four all-stars and an all-rookie team nod in 2022-23.
Star outside Savannah Purdy led the way for the Spartans as she was named a First Team All-Star, while Ansah Odoom, Kaylee Plouffe and Dora Komlodi were all named Second Team All-Stars. Superstar first-year Maryn Boldon was named to the CW All-Rookie Team. This was the second year in a row Purdy has been named a First Team All-Star, while Plouffe was named to the Canada West All-Rookie Team last year.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
Purdy averaged 3.21 points per set, including 2.67 kills per set and 0.45 aces per set (4th in CW), to go with 1.96 digs per set. Purdy was also 10th in the conference in hitting percentage, at .285. Odoom led the Spartans in kills with 3.20 per set (9th in CW) while also earning a .294 hitting percentage (9th in CW). All told, Odoom finished the regular season with a team-leading 3.89 points per set (8th in CW).
The second-year Plouffe enjoyed a breakout season in the middle, leading all of Canada West with a .437 hitting percentage, while averaging 0.73 blocks per set. The dynamic middle finished the year third amongst Spartans with 2.77 points per set.
Running the show for the Spartans was star setter Komlodi, who guided TWU to a conference leading .267 hitting percentage while, individually, she finished second in CW with 9.83 assists per set.
In her first year with TWU, Boldon burst onto the scene and gave Spartans fans plenty to be excited about for the future. Boldon averaged 2.35 kills per set, which put her third on the team and finished with 2.61 points per set.
Graduating libero Emma Gamache was also instumental in leading the Spartans defensive efforts, as she finished second in Canada West with 4.35 digs per set.
HISTORICALLY SIGNIFICANT
Since 2010, the Spartans women’s volleyball program has captured a total of six U SPORTS medals, including two gold medals (2015 and 2022), one silver medal (2016) and three bronze medals (2011, 2013 and 2017).
Amongst teams who will be competing in the 2023 U SPORTS Championship, the Spartans own a 5-4 record at the national tournament, with a 1-0 record against each of Mount Royal, McGill and Manitoba, a 1-1 record against Dalhousie and a 1-3 record against UBC. The Spartans have never faced Brock or UQAM at the national championship. This year, TWU is 4-0 against MRU, including preseason, regular season and post-season, 3-0 against UBC, including exhibition and regular season and 2-0 against Manitoba in a season-opening weekend sweep.