It was not the ideal way to spend celebrating his 23rd birthday.
Leigh Goossen wasn't able to eat anything and he figures he vomited a dozen times over the course of two days.
Over the course of the 48 hours leading up to Saturday night, Goossen was confined to his bed, trying to conserve what little energy he had.
But come game time later that evening, there he was standing on the court with his Trinity Western men's volleyball teammates as they went for the gold medal.
The Spartans were in Hamilton, Ont. where they faced the top-seed — and hometown team — McMaster Marauders with a national championship at stake.
"Coming into the final, I hadn't eaten in two days," said the six-foot-five middle blocker from Kelowna.
"So during the match, I was physically weak and emotionally drained. I was feeling very weak all around and that made it difficult for me to get into the game."
Goossen was fine for the team's quarter-final victory on Thursday but when he woke up the next morning, something was not right.
He still managed to play in the team's 3-2 semifinal victory over Alberta, and then went back to the hotel to sleep and recover for Saturday's championship final.
"I wasn't going to miss this game," he said.
Even during warm-ups, Goossen spent a good chunk of that time sitting on the bench, instead of going through all the drills and routine, instead conserving his energy for the match.
Teammates would stop by and offer a prayer or words of encouragement.
"It was encouraging to know I had my teammates behind me," he said.
Goossen said the hardest part was not having the energy to communicate or celebrate points with his teammates.
"The only thing I could do was put my hand in the air," he said. "It was tough not being able to celebrate those points with my teammates."
"The only way I felt I could contribute to the game was through my play."
And Goossen helped deliver, contributing four kills, two service aces, a pair of digs and a pair of blocks. Altogether, he finished with 6.5 of his team's 63 points in a three sets to one victory for the program's fourth national title.
Head coach Ben Josephson said Goossen's story is one of sacrifice and focus.
"Whatever he had to give, he was willing," the coach said.
"I don't know if we can ever say enough about Leigh. "That's legendary stuff. The poor kid is hurling between sets behind the bench.
"To play as well as he did, it's unbelievable."
"That's one of the gutsiest things I've ever seen a kid do in our program and I'm super proud of him."
The story is not unique, however, as in 2012, the Spartans' Ben Ball was confined to his hotel room between the quarter-final and semifinals, but played well enough to not only help TWU win the national title, but also pick up the most valuable player award.
Goossen capped off his night by spending a couple of hours at the hospital emergency room for an IV.
"That's a birthday, I will never forgot, that's for sure," he said.