Spartans Take on Mount Royal in Canada West Quarter- Finals

SPARTANS TAKE ON MOUNT ROYAL IN CANADA WEST QUARTER- FINALS

The defending national champion Trinity Western's men's volleyball team opens the conference playoffs hosting Mount Royal Thursday and Friday, with a potential tie-breaker Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.

THE WEEKEND STORY • The Spartans recently wrapped up the regular season splitting games on the road against Thompson Rivers. TWU finished atop the conference standings at 20-2. • Mount Royal concluded the season as the 8th seed with a 9-13 record, having won just twice over its last five games. • Spartans outside Eric Loeppky (Steinbach, Man.) led the entire conference in hitting percentage this season (.443), while middle Pearson Eshenko (Banff, Alta.) leads in blocks-per set (1.42). • TWU is 14-2 all-time against Mount Royal, recently winning both its matchups earlier this season (Jan. 10-11).

BY THE NUMBERS Trinity Western Team Stats (rank in CW) Points Per Set: 17.2 (1st) Team Hitting Percentage: .380 (1st)

Individual Stats (rank in CW) Kills Per Set: 3.89 – Eric Loeppky (2nd) Hitting Percentage: .443 – Eric Loeppky (1st) Assists Per Set: 10.29 – Derek Epp (1st) Blocks Per Set: 1.42 – Pearson Eshenko (1st)

Mount Royal Team Stats (rank in CW) Points Per Set: 14.4 (10th) Team Hitting Percentage: .219 (7th)

Individual Stats (rank in CW) Kills Per Set: 3.21 – Trent Mounter (10th) Hitting Percentage: .294 – Luis Lange (9th) Assists Per Set: 7.74 – Keal Prince (9th) Blocks Per Set: 0.61 – Jace Martin (26th)

TRINITY WESTERN SPARTANS (20-2) Canada West Standings: 1st Last Weekend: at Thompson Rivers (W 3-0, L 3-1) Streak: L1 Regular Season Form: W-W-W-W-L

MOUNT ROYAL COUGARS (9-13) Canada West Standings: 8th Last Weekend: vs. Winnipeg (L 3-1, W 3-0) Streak: W1 Regular Season Form: L-L-W-L-W

About Spartan Athletics As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men's hockey and as an independent team in men's rugby. The men's and women's hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.

-TW- CANADA WEST MEN'S VOLLEYBALL STANDINGS Place Team Record Sets Streak Points 1 Trinity WesternY 20-2 62-13 L1 40 2 AlbertaX 18-4 55-22 W10 36 3 UBCX 17-5 56-22 W4 34 4 BrandonX 13-9 49-30 L2 26 5 CalgaryX 12-10 45-41 L1 24 6 WinnipegX 12-10 41-41 L1 24 7 SaskatchewanX 10-12 41-46 L1 20 8 Mount RoyalX 9-13 38-46 W1 18 9 Manitoba 8-14 30-50 W1 16 10 Thompson Rivers 8-14 37-50 W1 16 11 UBC Okanagan 3-19 15-60 W1 6 12 MacEwan 2-20 14-62 L10 4

USPORTS TOP TEN RANKING RANK SCHOOL Record ELO Previous 1 Trinity Western 20-2 1882.08 1 2 McMaster 14-1 1810.71 2 3 Montreal 15-1 1800.95 4 4 Alberta 18-4 1783.69 3 5 UBC 17-5 1779.59 5 6 Queen’s 13-4 1741.81 7 7 Toronto 15-1 1736.33 6 8 Laval 11-5 1630.62 8 9 Brandon 13-9 1615.86 9

PLAYOFF FORMAT WEEK 1: Feb. 20 to 23 - Quarter-finals (best-of-three) Series A: 5 @ 4 Series B: 6 @ 3 Series C: 7 @ 2 Series D: 8 @ 1

WEEK 2: Feb. 27 to March 1 - Semifinals (best-of-three) Winner of Series A vs. Winner of Series D Winner of Series B vs. Winner of Series C

WEEK 3: March 7 - CW Championship Game At highest remaining seed

WEEK 4: March 12-15 U SPORTS Championship Hosted by Manitoba 2019-2020 TWU Men's Volleyball Roster NO NAME POS HT WT ELG MAJOR HOME TOWN LAST TEAM (HIGH SCHOOL) 1 Pearce Eshenko MB 6-8 207 5 HKBHK Banff, AB Canada B (Dr EP Scarlett) 2 Colton Loewen LIB 5-11 177 3 BUSBA Aldergrove, BC Force VC (MEI) 3 Jesse Elser OH 6-8 195 2 MCOBA Calgary, AB Canada JR (Dr EP Scarlett) 5 Brodie Hofer OH 6-6 215 2 BUSBB Langley, BC Canada JR (Langley Christian) 6 Mathias Elser S 6-6 175 1 BUSBA Calgary, AB Canada JR (Dr EP Scarlett) 7 Jackson Howe MB 6-5 205 3 BUSBA Calgary, AB Canada B (Dr. EP Scarlett) 8 Eric Loeppky OH 6-5 201 4 EDUC Steinbach, MB Canada SR (Steinbach) 9 Brennan Gardner LIB 6-1 190 4 BUSBA Langley, BC FVVC/Briercrest BB (Langley Christian) 10 Kaden Gamache OH 6-6 180 4 EDUC Abbotsford, BC FVVC (MEI) 12 Henry Rempel OH 6-5 190 1 HKBHK Swift Current, SK Canada Youth (Swift Current) 15 Jacob Kern OH 6-7 200 5 HKBHK Edmonton, AB Canada JR (Jasper Place) 16 Jordan Schnitzer MB 6-6 180 3 BUSBA Surrey, BC FVVC/Briercrest (Pacific Academy) 17 Isaiah Olfert OH 6-4 168 1 EDUC Winnipeg, MB Team Manitoba (Dakota Collegiate) 18 Linden Bontkes MB/O 6-8 205 4 BUSBA Langley, BC FVVC/Redeemer (Langley Christian) 20 Derek Epp S 6-7 200 3 HKBHK Saskatoon, SK Canada B/UofS (Marion Graham)

Head Coach: Ben Josephson (13) Assistant Coaches: Joel Jansen (13), Ben Ball (8), Adam Schriemer (1), Jordan Or (1) Director of Scouting: Joel Jansen (13) Wellness Director: Nick Del Bianco Director of Technology: Glen Lieuwen Athlete Mentorship Coach: Rob Betsworth Manager: Jordi Koslowsky Team Administrator: Jen Josephson Therapist: Natalie Ghobrial, Katia Sanon Student Therapists: Eric Petrie, Missy Bowman SID: Scott Stewart Manager Marketing and Media: Mark Janzen 2019-2020 Mount Royal Men's Volleyball Roster NO NAME POS HT ELIG MAJOR HOMETOWN PREVIOUS TEAM (Highschool) 1 Mitchel Gorman L 6-0 2 Arts Grande Prairie, AB Grande Prairie Volleyball Club 3 Jacob van Geel OH 6-5 1 Athletic Therapy Calgary, AB Canuck VC (Western Canada HS) 4 Chris Byam OH 6-6 1 Health & Physical Education Bow Island, AB Youth National Team (Senator Gershaw HS) 5 Luis Lange M 6-6 2 Business Calgary, AB (William Aberhart HS) 6 Jace Martin M 6-7 2 Open Studies Sylvan Lake, AB Red Deer College Kings 7 Joao Friere OH 6-5 3 Arts Belo Horizonte, BRA Medicine Hat College Rattlers 8 Jace Timmer M 6-6 1 Business Meadow Lake, SK (Carpenter HS) 9 Jackson Brennan S 6-0 3 Business Bragg Creek, AB Canuck VC (Dr. EP Scarlett HS) 10 Godi Jibi M 6-6 4 Science Calgary, AB Ambrose University Lions 11 Trent Mounter OH 6-4 5 Business Perth, AUS SAIT Trojans 12 Tyler Chernishenko L 6-1 1 Business Edmonton, AB (Jasper Place HS) 13 Matt Saly OH 6-2 5 Arts Calgary, AB Elite West Volleyball Club 14 Paul Dionne OH 6-5 2 Health & Physical Education Weyburn, SK Regina Volleyball Club 16 Griffin Butler OH 6-1 1 Arts Edmonton, AB NAVC (Harry Ainley HS) 18 Keal Prince S 6-1 3 Arts Calgary, AB Vancouver Island University Mariners

Head Coach: Shawn Sky (15th Season) Assistant Coaches: Greg Barthel Jace Richards, Chris Webb, Glen Brooker, Andy Hayher Strength & Conditioning Coach: Jack Boyle Athletic Therapy Student: Director of Athletics & Recreation: Karla Karch Manager: Rob Godfrey Sports Information: Jarron Mueller Trinity Western Combined Team Statistics (as of Feb 19, 2020) All games

RECORD: OVERALL HOME AWAY NEUTRAL ALL GAMES 20-2 12-0 8-2 0-0 CONFERENCE 20-2 12-0 8-2 0-0 NON-CONFERENCE 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

ATTACK SET SERVE DIG BLOCKING ## PLAYER SP K K/S E TA PCT A A/S SA SE SA/S RE DIG DIG/S BS BA TOTAL BLK/S BE BHE POINTS 18 L Bontkes 2 0 0.00 0 0 - 0 0.00 0 1 0.00 0 0 0.00 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0.0 3 J Elser 58 137 2.36 63 285 .260 11 0.19 29 53 0.50 21 85 1.47 1 20 21 0.36 0 0 177.0 6 M Elser 49 16 0.33 4 30 .400 180 3.67 14 29 0.29 2 28 0.57 2 11 13 0.27 0 3 37.5 20 D Epp 62 21 0.34 5 44 .364 638 10.29 18 36 0.29 1 60 0.97 3 27 30 0.48 0 0 55.5 1 P Eshenko 67 109 1.63 27 199 .412 5 0.07 19 61 0.28 0 17 0.25 7 88 95 1.42 1 0 179.0 10 K Gamache 11 0 0.00 0 1 .000 1 0.09 0 1 0.00 0 8 0.73 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0.0 5 B Hofer 44 95 2.16 34 173 .353 8 0.18 20 36 0.45 16 48 1.09 1 20 21 0.48 0 0 126.0 7 J Howe 57 126 2.21 16 185 .595 5 0.09 12 18 0.21 0 19 0.33 2 32 34 0.60 2 0 156.0 15 J Kern 66 150 2.27 56 304 .309 4 0.06 27 58 0.41 1 74 1.12 2 41 43 0.65 1 0 199.5 8 E Loeppky 57 222 3.89 47 395 .443 13 0.23 27 52 0.47 8 76 1.33 2 28 30 0.53 0 0 265.0 2 C Loewen 75 2 0.03 0 3 .667 12 0.16 0 0 0.00 23 85 1.13 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 2.0 17 I Olfert 34 6 0.18 4 10 .200 1 0.03 4 19 0.12 0 8 0.24 0 1 1 0.03 0 0 10.5 12 H Rempel 28 35 1.25 20 74 .203 2 0.07 3 14 0.11 0 10 0.36 0 7 7 0.25 1 0 41.5 16 J Schnitzer 19 29 1.53 5 54 .444 2 0.11 1 8 0.05 0 8 0.42 0 17 17 0.89 0 0 38.5 Totals 75 948 12.64 281 1757 .380 882 11.76 174 386 2.32 85 526 7.01 20 292 166 2.21 5 3 1288.0 Opponents 75 648 8.64 349 1667 .179 604 8.05 85 317 1.13 174 391 5.21 31 136 99 1.32 2 2 832.0

TEAM STATISTICS TRINITY WESTERN OPP DATE OPPONENT SCORE SCORE BY SET ATT. ATTACK 10/18/2019 at Alberta W, 3-0 25-9 25-17 25-23 600 Kills 948 648 10/19/2019 at Alberta L, 3-2 25-13 25-19 19-25 21-25 13-15 350 Errors 281 349 10/25/2019 Winnipeg W, 3-0 25-14 25-19 25-17 615 Total Attacks 1757 1667 10/26/2019 Winnipeg W, 3-0 25-18 25-23 25-19 290 Attack Pct .380 .179 11/01/2019 MacEwan W, 3-0 25-12 25-21 25-15 210 Kills/Set 12.64 8.64 11/02/2019 MacEwan W, 3-0 25-15 25-18 25-18 175 SET 11/15/2019 at Manitoba W, 3-0 25-14 25-19 25-20 200 Assists 882 604 11/16/2019 at Manitoba W, 3-0 25-16 25-20 25-18 150 Assists/Set 11.76 8.05 11/22/2019 Saskatchewan W, 3-0 25-19 25-14 25-17 375 SERVE 11/23/2019 Saskatchewan W, 3-0 31-29 25-16 25-23 275 Aces 174 85 11/28/2019 at Calgary W, 3-0 25-23 25-23 25-16 449 Errors 386 317 11/29/2019 at Calgary W, 3-0 25-17 25-14 25-17 563 Aces/Set 2.32 1.13 01/10/2020 Mount Royal W, 3-0 25-13 25-20 25-15 190 SERVE RECEPTIONS 01/11/2020 Mount Royal W, 3-2 25-13 25-27 27-25 21-25 15-11 215 Errors 85 174 01/17/2020 UBC Okanagan W, 3-0 25-21 25-21 25-17 580 Errors/Set 1.13 2.32 01/18/2020 UBC Okanagan W, 3-0 25-11 25-11 25-20 230 DEFENSE 01/24/2020 at UBC W, 3-2 25-22 22-25 25-18 25-27 15-10 488 Digs 526 391 01/25/2020 at UBC W, 3-0 25-9 25-23 25-18 1000 Digs/Set 7.01 5.21 01/31/2020 Brandon W, 3-1 25-19 25-18 18-25 25-23 325 BLOCKING 02/01/2020 Brandon W, 3-1 25-20 25-20 20-25 25-21 0 Block Solo 20 31 02/14/2020 at Thompson Rivers W, 3-1 27-29 25-14 25-23 25-21 300 Block Assist 292 136 02/15/2020 at Thompson Rivers L, 3-0 23-25 22-25 23-25 500 Total Blocks 166 99 Blocks Per Game 7.5 4.5 Record in 3-set matches: 15-1 Block Errors 5 2 Record in 4-set matches: 3-0 Ball handling errors 3 2 Record in 5-set matches: 2-1 ATTENDANCE Total 3480 4600 Dates/Avg Per Date 12/290 10/460 Neutral site #/Avg 0/0 - Mount Royal Combined Team Statistics (as of Feb 19, 2020) All games

RECORD: OVERALL HOME AWAY NEUTRAL ALL GAMES 9-13 7-5 2-8 0-0 CONFERENCE 9-13 7-5 2-8 0-0 NON-CONFERENCE 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0

ATTACK SET SERVE DIG BLOCKING ## PLAYER SP K K/S E TA PCT A A/S SA SE SA/S RE DIG DIG/S BS BA TOTAL BLK/S BE BHE POINTS 9 J Brennan 46 2 0.04 1 7 .143 165 3.59 3 15 0.07 0 26 0.57 0 1 1 0.02 0 0 5.5 16 G Butler 19 0 0.00 0 1 .000 0 0.00 1 4 0.05 0 4 0.21 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 1.0 4 C Byam 74 186 2.51 110 504 .151 11 0.15 18 50 0.24 0 56 0.76 3 25 28 0.38 4 0 219.5 12 T Chernishenko 77 1 0.01 0 2 .500 28 0.36 0 0 0.00 33 99 1.29 0 1 1 0.01 0 0 1.5 14 P Dionne 16 28 1.75 16 70 .171 2 0.13 7 9 0.44 0 17 1.06 3 4 7 0.44 1 0 40.0 7 J Friere 33 24 0.73 16 62 .129 2 0.06 4 6 0.12 5 15 0.45 0 6 6 0.18 0 0 31.0 1 M Gorman 43 0 0.00 0 2 .000 6 0.14 0 0 0.00 8 36 0.84 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 0.0 10 G Jibi 1 2 2.00 0 3 .667 0 0.00 0 0 0.00 0 0 0.00 0 1 1 1.00 0 0 2.5 5 L Lange 78 157 2.01 60 330 .294 8 0.10 20 40 0.26 0 31 0.40 5 33 38 0.49 5 0 198.5 6 J Martin 72 112 1.56 19 209 .445 4 0.06 11 26 0.15 2 26 0.36 4 40 44 0.61 2 0 147.0 11 T Mounter 78 250 3.21 111 657 .212 15 0.19 15 92 0.19 27 118 1.51 2 25 27 0.35 0 0 279.5 18 K Prince 82 23 0.28 10 46 .283 635 7.74 24 70 0.29 0 106 1.29 9 19 28 0.34 3 1 65.5 13 M Saly 79 135 1.71 80 370 .149 12 0.15 27 36 0.34 27 142 1.80 3 15 18 0.23 1 0 172.5 8 J Timmer 24 18 0.75 10 44 .182 1 0.04 6 18 0.25 0 5 0.21 2 13 15 0.63 0 0 32.5 3 J van Geel 12 10 0.83 5 25 .200 1 0.08 1 8 0.08 5 5 0.42 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 11.0 Totals 84 948 11.29 438 2332 .219 890 10.60 137 374 1.63 133 686 8.17 31 183 123 1.46 17 1 1207.5 Opponents 84 874 10.40 347 2077 .254 812 9.67 133 302 1.58 137 738 8.79 58 269 193 2.29 22 5 1199.5

TEAM STATISTICS MOUNT ROYAL OPP DATE OPPONENT SCORE SCORE BY SET ATT. ATTACK 10/18/2019 MacEwan L, 3-2 25-22 26-28 21-25 28-26 11-15 0 Kills 948 874 10/19/2019 MacEwan W, 3-0 25-15 25-12 25-18 104 Errors 438 347 10/26/2019 at Manitoba W, 3-2 29-31 25-17 26-24 23-25 15-12 100 Total Attacks 2332 2077 10/27/2019 at Manitoba L, 3-1 16-25 20-25 26-24 23-25 200 Attack Pct .219 .254 11/01/2019 at UBC L, 3-1 25-23 17-25 16-25 17-25 568 Kills/Set 11.29 10.40 11/02/2019 at UBC L, 3-1 26-28 13-25 25-20 22-25 357 SET 11/08/2019 UBC Okanagan W, 3-0 25-16 25-22 25-19 196 Assists 890 812 11/09/2019 UBC Okanagan W, 3-0 25-21 25-17 25-19 143 Assists/Set 10.60 9.67 11/15/2019 at Brandon L, 3-0 21-25 19-25 20-25 697 SERVE 11/16/2019 at Brandon L, 3-0 14-25 20-25 22-25 593 Aces 137 133 11/22/2019 Alberta L, 3-0 11-25 20-25 21-25 232 Errors 374 302 11/23/2019 Alberta L, 3-0 14-25 20-25 18-25 196 Aces/Set 1.63 1.58 01/10/2020 at Trinity Western L, 3-0 13-25 20-25 15-25 190 SERVE RECEPTIONS 01/11/2020 at Trinity Western L, 3-2 13-25 27-25 25-27 25-21 11-15 215 Errors 133 137 01/17/2020 Thompson Rivers W, 3-0 25-18 25-20 25-20 119 Errors/Set 1.58 1.63 01/18/2020 Thompson Rivers W, 3-1 16-25 26-24 25-21 25-22 151 DEFENSE 01/23/2020 at Calgary W, 3-2 19-25 25-16 25-22 16-25 15-10 830 Digs 686 738 01/24/2020 at Calgary L, 3-2 25-27 25-23 25-22 23-25 8-15 749 Digs/Set 8.17 8.79 01/31/2020 Saskatchewan L, 3-1 19-25 25-13 20-25 22-25 159 BLOCKING 02/01/2020 Saskatchewan W, 3-2 25-23 25-17 23-25 23-25 15-9 164 Block Solo 31 58 02/14/2020 Winnipeg L, 3-1 24-19 18-25 19-25 17-25 103 Block Assist 183 269 02/15/2020 Winnipeg W, 3-0 25-21 25-23 25-9 112 Total Blocks 123 193 Blocks Per Game 5.6 8.8 Record in 3-set matches: 5-5 Block Errors 17 22 Record in 4-set matches: 1-5 Ball handling errors 1 5 Record in 5-set matches: 3-3 ATTENDANCE Total 1679 4499 Dates/Avg Per Date 12/139 10/449 Neutral site #/Avg 0/0 -