LANGLEY, British Columbia – When the Spartans arrive at the Queen’s Athletic and Recreation Centre in Kingston, Ont. this weekend, they will be looking to continue an impressive streak of volleyball excellence, as a historic run sees Trinity Western come to Queen’s University having played in each of the last seven national finals, with an eye on capturing their eighth national title in program history.
U SPORTS QUARTER FINAL: No. 4 TWU at No. 5 Queen’s
Thursday, March 14, 6 p.m. (ET) – WATCH
Coming off a Canada West silver medal – a result that pushed TWU’s historic streak of playing in the conference final to an unprecedented 12 straight seasons – the Spartans will look to defend their 2023 national title and continue their success at the U SPORTS Championship. TWU is making its 13th straight championship appearance, and since 2014 have captured gold four times (2016, 2017, 2019, 2023) and silver three times (2015, 2018, 2022).
This is the second time the Spartans have traveled to Kingston to play in the national tournament. TWU will be looking to garner similar success to their last trip in 2012, which saw TWU win the national championship.
HOW THEY GOT HERE
The 2023-24 season has been an up-and-down season for the Spartans. Midway through the season the Spartans were battling through injuries and sitting at .500 (5-5) and looking at potentially missing the postseason or being on the road for the Canada West postseason.
But after the midseason break, it was a different Spartan team on the court. TWU finished the season winning 11 of their final 14 conference matches, to finish at 16-8 and a third-place finish in the Canada West standings. TWU went on to host the first two rounds of the Canada West playoffs. The Spartans defeated the Brandon Bobcats 2-0 in the best-of-three quarter-finals and Winnipeg 2-1 in the best-of-three semifinals to lock up a spot in both the Canada West final and the national tournament. In the final, the Spartans lost in a four-set match to the Alberta Golden Bears – a match which marked the fourth straight season the Bears and Spartans have battled for the Canada West crown. TWU enters the national championship as the No. 4 seed at the U SPORTS Championship.
The Spartans enter the U SPORTS Championship with a 26-13 overall record in 2022-23, which includes a 6-3 preseason record and a 4-2 record in the CW playoffs.
HEAD COACH: ADAM SCHRIEMER
“The growth we’ve had over the season is really exciting. Despite Friday’s result, we are on an upward trajectory into the tournament, which is fun to see. It’s going to be cool to see some guys that didn’t have big roles for us last year have big roles this year in the tournament.
“We’ve felt that we’ve been close to our deathbed for a while now. Being below .500 at one point in the year and out of a playoff spot, we knew we were in a do-or-die scenario throughout much of this season. Playing in Canada West helps prepare us for nationals so much because it’s such a perfect test for this tournament because of the competition and how good everyone is from top to bottom. Every team that has made it to nationals through our conference is going to be ready because of the tough competition all season and especially over the last few weeks.”
CONFERENCE HONOURS
The Spartans finished with two Canada West All-Stars nods, plus a Rookie of the Year honour. Fourth-year outside Henry Rempel was named a First Team All-Star, second-year setter Anselm Rein earned Second Team All-Star honours, while TWU first-year Piers de Greeff was named Canada West Rookie of the Year.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
As a team, the Spartans averaged 15.9 points per set throughout the regular season (2nd in CW), 1.91 aces per set (1st in CW), 12.01 kills per set (4th in CW), 8.17 digs per set (8th in CW), 2.00 blocks per set (9th in CW), while averaging .282 hitting percentage (3rd in CW).
Rempel led the Spartans statistically, finishing with 4.23 kills per set (1st in CW), 5.0 points per set (1st in CW), 398 kills (2nd in CW),.309 hitting percentage (4th in CW), 39 service aces (4th in CW), 0.41 aces per set (5th in CW). Rein also put up significant numbers leading Canada West in set assists per set with 10.29, and service aces with 55, and aces per set with 0.59.
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
Since joining U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans men’s volleyball program has captured seven national championships and 14 U SPORTS medals, including five silver medals and two bronze medals. In TWU’s 16 appearances at the national tournament, the Spartans have medaled in all but two tournaments.
Since missing the medal round in 2014, TWU is 18-3 in the championship tournament, in seven straight championships, while claiming four national championships. TWU also qualified for the U SPORTS championship as the No. 1 seed in the canceled 2020 tournament.
Amongst teams who will be competing in the 2024 U SPORTS Championship, the Spartans own an overall record of 22-6 in games played at the national tournament, including a record of 7-0 against McMaster, 5-0 against Laval, 3-0 against Queen’s, 2-0 against Sherbrooke, 1-1 against UBC, and 4-5 against Alberta. TWU has never faced Guelph at the national championship tournament.
TWU has a 38-10 all-time record at the national championships. Western is the only team outside of Canada West to have ever beaten the Spartans at the U SPORTS Championship, with their other eight losses coming against Alberta (five) and one each to UBC, Calgary and Saskatchewan.
In preseason play, Oct. 13-15, at the Smola Cup at Queen’s Athletics and Recreation Centre, TWU defeated McMaster 3-2 and lost to Sherbrooke 3-0, and lost to Queen’s 3-2. Overall this year the Spartans are 1-2 against Alberta, all in Edmonton, and 1-1 against UBC in a home-and-home series. The Spartans last played Laval at the 2019 U SPORTS Championship, a 3-2 TWU semi-final win. The Spartans have only played Guelph in pre-season matches, 4-0, with their last meeting in October of 2017.
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