The coaches have spoken! And, not very favourably when it comes to the chances of USask teams from winning their respective Canada West Volleyball Conference titles!
The Saskatchewan women’s volleyball team was 10th out of 14 teams in voting by coaches with Fraser Valley topping the poll. However, five teams split the 14 first place votes. On the men’s side, the Huskies finished eighth out of 13 teams in the coaches poll. Defending champion Alberta slipped past Mount Royal to top the poll while three other teams received one first place vote. The season starts this weekend with USask entertaining Brandon at the P-A-C. Following are the news releases from the Canada West Conference…..
WVB: UFV Cascades top preseason poll
The 2023-24 CW women’s volleyball season starts Friday
18 October 2023
CW coaches were split in what proved to be one of the closest pre-season coaches polls in recent memory. Five teams received first place votes, including University of the Fraser Valley, Alberta, UBC, Manitoba and Trinity Western.
The UFV Cascades narrowly took top spot, garnering four first-place votes. The Cascades are looking to take another step forward after a quarterfinals appearance last season, and will be led by the reigning CW and U SPORTS women’s volleyball player of the year in outside hitter Gabrielle Attieh.
Attieh led the nation in kills and points last season, while becoming only the fifth player in CW history to eclipse the 400 kill mark in a single season. A threat on both offence and defence, the Surrey, B.C. product also finished seventh in the conference in digs.
Placing second in the poll were the Manitoba Bisons, who return their entire roster and will be led by hometown product Raya Surinx. Last year’s U SPORTS Rookie of the Year played a massive role in helping the Bisons advance to nationals last season for the first time since 2014.
Fifth-year libero Kacey Jost will lead the defending national champion UBC Thunderbirds into battle, as they ranked third in the coaches poll and will look to recreate their magical U SPORTS title run. The pillar of UBC’s defence, Jost was named Canada West Libero of the Year for 2022-23, the first time in eight years the award was handed out and the first Thunderbird to win since Claire Hanna in 2010. Jost amassed 337 total digs on the season for an average of 4.01 per set.
A young Alberta Pandas side finished fourth in the poll and will feature several first-year student-athletes guided by new head coach Carolyn O’Dwyer. A large work load will fall to the Panda’s veterans, especially fifth-year outside Lauryn Tremblay. The second team CW All-Star finished third in the conference with 333 kills and 3.7 kills per set a year ago, and will once again see a healthy dose of attempts for the Pandas this season.
Defending CW champion Trinity Western rounded out the top five. The Spartans went an impressive 22-2 last season before going 5-0 in the Canada West playoffs to capture the conference crown. The Spartans will be led by third year middle Kaylee Plouffe.
“Kaylee is a force at the net offensively and defensibly,” says Spartans head coach Ryan Hofer. “Our ability to get her the ball off serve receive and position her to take high quality swings allows us to form our offence and set up the people around her to be successful.”
The action begins Friday with a full slate of seven games, including a hotly anticipated season opening matchup between UFV and TWU.
For the complete schedule, click here.
2023-24 CW WVB PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Team – Points (First-place votes)
- Fraser Valley Cascades – 153 (4)
- Manitoba Bisons – 143 (3)
- UBC Thunderbirds – 141 (3)
- Alberta Pandas – 137 (3)
- Trinity Western Spartans – 116 (1)
- UBCO Heat – 112
- Calgary Dinos – 103
- Thompson Rivers WolfPack – 79
- Mount Royal Cougars – 78
- Saskatchewan Huskies – 74
- Winnipeg Wesmen – 59
- MacEwan Griffins – 39
- Regina Cougars – 27
- Brandon Bobcats – 13
MVB: Defending CW champion Alberta tops preseason poll
The 2023-24 CW men’s volleyball season begins Friday
18 October 2023
Oct. 18, 2023 – The drama of Canada West men’s volleyball returns this weekend, and there promises to be plenty of intrigue if the pre-season coaches poll is any indication.
The Alberta Golden Bears will once again enter as the favourite, taking top spot in the poll with five first place votes. The Bears took home their first CW title since 2015 last season, downing arch-rival Trinity Western 3-1 in a hotly contested final.
While the Golden Bears have seen a large portion of their championship roster graduate, their youth movement will be hungry to continue the winning tradition. The group will be led by star outside hitter Isaac Heslinga, who competed for Team Canada at the NORCECA Final 6 and at the Pan American Cup this summer.
“Leadership will be key for the Bears this year. We have a very focused group top to bottom,” says Golden Bears head coach Brock Davidiuk. “A number of athletes had very strong summers in this area with their respective national teams. Isaac Heslinga was captain of Team Canada’s Final 6 squad, Jacob Sargent was captain of Team Canada’s Jr. National Team and Billy Johnstone was assistant captain of New Zealand’s Sr. National Team. I’m excited to see how these individuals will step up to lead the team along with several other athletes who have been embodying our values.”
While the Bears claimed the conference title, it was the TWU Spartans who surged on the national stage, winning their seventh U SPORTS national championship. The defending national champs placed third in the coaches poll and will be led by fourth-year outside hitter Henry Rempel. The Swift Current, Sask. product averaged 3.15 kills/set last year and is once again expected to be an impact player on both sides of the net.
While Alberta and TWU have dominated the CW men’s volleyball scene in recent years, many eyes will also be on Mount Royal University this season. The Cougars ranked second in the coaches poll and also received five first place votes. The Cougars will be led by veteran outside hitter Chris Byam, who was named a First Team All-Canadian last season and is coming off a summer spent with the Next Gen Canadian National Team.
The UBC Thunderbirds took fourth place in the poll and had a first place vote, and will turn to sophomore Conaire Taub for another big season. Named to both the CW and U SPORTS All-Rookie Teams, Taub quickly established himself by leading the team with 127 kills.
The Winnipeg Wesmen rounded out the top five, led by key returnee Nigel Nielsen. The Wesmen have beefed up at attacking positions, but Nielsen is the returnee with the most kilometres under his belt and was seventh in the country in kills a season ago.
Calgary placed sixth but also received a first place vote. The Dinos will look to third-year middle Louis Kunstmann to lead one of the conference’s stingiest defences.
The action begins Friday with a full slate of six games, including a showdown between MRU and UBC.
For the complete schedule, click here.
2023-24 CW MVB PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Team – Points (First-place votes)
- Alberta Golden Bears – 133 (5)
- Mount Royal Cougars – 129 (5)
- Trinity Western Spartans – 126 (1)
- UBC Thunderbirds – 114 (1)
- Winnipeg Wesmen – 91
- Calgary Dinos – 88 (1)
- Brandon Bobcats – 74
- Saskatchewan Huskies – 71
- Manitoba Bisons – 66
- Thompson Rivers WolfPack – 43
- Fraser Valley Cascades – 36
- UBCO Heat – 30
- MacEwan Griffins – 13
