Trinity Western University men’s and women’s volleyball teams won their respective Canada West championship on Saturday, March 7th, at the Langley Events Centre, marking the fourth win in five years for the men, and the second straight Canada West win for the women.
Spartans men beat visiting Alberta 3-0 (25-21, 25-22, 25-22) in their conference final in front of a raucous Spartans home crowd of nearly 1,500.
READ ALSO: Langley volleyball player Dan Jansen VanDoorn headed 2020 Olympics
Langley-based TWU will now advance to the U SPORTS Championship for the 11th year in a row as they will travel to the University of Manitoba (Mar. 13-15), in search of their second straight national title and fourth in the last five years.
TWU head coach Ben Josephson argued winning Canada West was harder than winning nationals.
“In the national tournament, you have to be good for three days. In this thing, you have to be good for the whole season,” Josephson commented.
READ ALSO: TWU volleyball coach remembered
On the same day, Trinity Western’s women’s volleyball team captured their second straight Canada West championship, beating visiting Alberta in a thrilling five-setter, winning 3-2 (26-24, 25-23,18-25, 18-25, 15-8) Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.
Langley’s Avery Heppell was a Second Team All-Star, with 10 kills to go with four blocks.
TWU head coach Ryan Hofer said at the level of play in their conference, “you have to be sharp and you have to be able to play in the moment. You train all year for this and I’m really proud that our team did it
Both Alberta and TWU will travel to Calgary for the U SPORTS Championship Mar. 13-15, with the quarter-finals on Friday.