Men's Volleyball 2018-2019
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MEN’S VOLLEYBALL 2018-2019 2018-19 Trinity Western University Men’s Volleyball Team Back Row: (L-R) Kenzie Fischer, EJ Rabanes, Jackson Howe, Kaden Gamache, Jacob Kern, Jesse Elser, Pearce Eshenko, Aaron Boettcher, Brodie Hofer, Ben Ball (AC), Ben Josephson (HC), Front Row: Ben Lieuwen, Derek Epp, Cameron Slomp, Jordan Koslowsky, Carter Bergen, Colton Loewen, Brennan Gardner, Eric Loeppky, Riley Vander Meulen. NUMERICAL ROSTER No Name POS HT WT Elig Course Home Town High School 1 Pearce Eshenko MB 6-8 210 4 HKBHK Banff Youth Team Canada (Dr EP Scarlett) 3 Jesse Elser OH 6-8 185 2R MCOBA Calgary, AB Canada JR (Dr EP Scarlett) 5 Brodie Hofer OH 6-6 200 1 BUSBB Langley, BC Canada JR (Langley Christian) 6 Cameron Slomp S 6-3 187 3 PSYBA Edmonton Team Alberta (Edmonton Christian) 7 Ben Lieuwen OH 6-3 185 5 GENR Abbotsford, BC FVVC (MEI) 8 Eric Loeppky OH 6-5 200 3 GENBA Steinbach, MB Canada JR (Steinbach) 9 Riley Vander Meulen OH 6-8 210 5 HKBHK Edmonton FogVC (Edmonton Christian) 10 Kaden Gamache OH 6-6 180 3 GENBA Abbotsford, BC FVVC (MEI Secondary) 11 Carter Bergen LIB 6-0 190 5 PSYBA Winnipeg Winman VC (MBCI) 13 Colton Loewen OH 5-10 185 2 BUSBA Abbotsford, BC Force VC (MEI) 14 Aaron Boettcher MB 6-8 185 4 PSYBA Surrey, BC FVVC (Elgin Park) 15 Jacob Kern OH 6-6 205 4 HKBHK Edmonton Youth Team Canada (Jasper Place) 16 Brennan Gardner OH 6-0 185 3 BUSBA Langley, BC Briercrest BB (Langley Christian) 17 Jackson Howe MB 6-5 190 2 BUSBA Calgary, AB (Dr. EP Scarlett) 19 Jordan Koslowsky S 6-1 180 4 INTBA Abbotsford Team BC (MEI Secondary) 20 Derek Epp S 6-6 195 2 HKBHK Saskatoon, SK UofS (Marion Graham) STAFF NAME PRONOUNCIATION Head Coach: Ben Josephson (12) Pearce Eshenko PEARCE uh-SHEN-ko Assistant Coaches: Joel Jansen (12), Ben Ball (7) Jesse Elser EL-SIR Therapist: Natalie Ghobrial, Katia Sanon Brodie Hofer HO-fer Student Therapists: EJ Rabanes, Kenzie Fischer Ben Lieuwen LOO-in Eric Loeppky LEP-KEY SID: Scott Stewart Riley Vander Meulen VAN-der MEW-lin Manager Marketing and Media: Mark Janzen Kaden Gamache KAY-dun Guh-MASH Colton Loewen LO-IN Aaron Boettcher BETCH-er Jordan Koslowsky kus-LOUS-key 2019 TWU Men’s Volleyball Media Guide Page 2 2019 CIS Championship Preview he Trinity Western men’s going five sets before Brandon edged Off the bench, fifth-year Ben Lieuwen is volleyball team will arrive in TWU 15-12 to secure the conference a veteran option, who, over his career, Quebec City this week set to championship. has proven to have the ability to provide compete in the U SPORTS effective stability in key situations. TChampionship for the 10th consecutive OUTSIDE HITTERS year. The No. 2 seeded Spartans will be The Spartans possess two of the best MIDDLES targeting a fifth straight appearance in outside hitters in the country, with left It’s been a TWU tradition to have strong the national final, while aiming for their side Eric Loeppky, who spent time middles and this year is no different. third U SPORTS title in the last four last summer training and playing with With fifth-year Aaron Boettcher and years. Canada’s senior men’s program, and high-flying second-year Jackson Howe, right side Jacob Kern both earning TWU’s starting duo is arguably the The Spartans enter this weekend’s Canada West First Team All-Star nods. best in the country. Boettcher finished tournament having played in seven of With rookie Brodie Hofer having a third in CW with 1.22 blocks per set in the last nine U SPORTS title tilts and coming out party in the playoffs, TWU the regular season and has averaged having earned victories in four of those has one of the most dynamic trios in U 1.13 per set in the playoffs to go with championships bouts, including 2011, SPORTS. 0.52 aces per set in the postseason. 2012, 2016 and 2017. Since 2009, the As for Howe, the monster middle, who Spartans have only missed playing in Playoff Finish: Canada West Silver played for Canada’s Senior B Team in the national final twice, in 2013 and Regular Season Finish: 2nd the summer but played the first half of 2014. this season on the right side, has been Top Ten Finish: 2nd almost unstoppable since returning With a decade-long run of U SPORTS Regular / playoff records: 18-4 / 4-2 to the middle. In his last 12 matches, men’s volleyball success, the Ben Last U SPORTS championship: 2017 Howe hit .546 while averaging 2.04 Josephson-led Spartans come to Total U SPORTS championships: 5 kills per set and making a total of just Laval with eyes on winning their fifth 15 attacking errors (0.33/set). championship in 10 years. CANADA WEST RANKINGS Coming off the bench might just be HOW THEY ARRIVED Kills per Set: 2.37 (3rd) the best “third” middle in U SPORTS The Spartans put together yet another Hitting %: .325 (2nd) history, with Pearce Eshenko, who was dominant regular season with an 18-4 also with Canada’s Senior B Team in record, which was good for second Assists per Set: 11.77 (3rd) the summer, providing a ridiculous place in the Canada West standings. Service Aces: 144 (4th) collection of depth for TWU. The campaign was marred only be Aces per Set: 1.92 (2nd) losses to U SPORTS championship- Digs: 629 (12th) SETTERS bound Brandon (twice on the road) and In his first year as the Spartans starting Alberta (once) as well as defending Digs per Set: 8.39 (9th) setter, Derek Epp finished third in CW national champion UBC (once). The Blocks per Set: 2.65 (2nd) with 9.74 assists per set while helping Spartans spent three weeks atop the Home attendance avg: 408 (5th) TWU to a .325 hitting percentage (2nd U SPORTS rankings this year. They in CW). After transferring from the dropped as low as No. 4 in mid-January University of Saskatchewan in 2017, before climbing to No. 2 for the final Individual Leaders Epp sat out a year due to transfer rules, five weeks of the season. Kills per set: Eric Loeppky, 3.59 but in his first season guiding the TWU Blocks per set: Aaron Boettcher, 1.20 offence, Epp, who represented Canada The first round of the playoffs saw TWU Assists per set: Derek Epp, 9.74 at the U21 World Championship in play local rival UBC in a rematch of the Digs per set: Carter Bergen, 2.09 2017, has been every bit the national- 2018 national final. Taking on a pesky level star that his pedigree suggested. T-Birds side, the Spartans needed to Aces per set: Eric Loeppky, 0.58 win a deciding Game 3 to advance to LIBEROS the Canada West semifinals, beating Loeppky finished the regular season Fifth-year Carter Bergen has been the UBC in three sets to eliminate the title hitting .374 (1st in CW) while averaging “heart-and-soul” type leader of this holders. 0.58 aces per set (1st in CW) and team. He averaged 2.09 digs per set 3.59 kills per set (5th in CW). Kern (8th in CW) and was one of the key The victory set up a date with Thompson finished second only to Loeppky in the leaders on this year’s Spartans team Rivers, who upset Alberta in its quarter- conference with 0.54 aces per set while as a high-end talent with a blue-collar final series, and the Spartans disposed averaging 3.31 kills per set. approach. Having tasted championship of the WolfPack with back-to-back wins success in both 2016 and 2017, Bergen – in four sets and three sets – on home In the playoffs, Loeppky has continued will be keen to lead TWU back to the top court. to roll, earning 3.48 kills per set and 0.35 in his final year. aces per set, while Hofer’s numbers That win sent TWU to the Canada West have come alive as he’s averaged 2.33 final for the eighth year in a row and kills per set (0.73 in the regular season) put together a dream matchup between and 0.33 aces per set (0.16 in the No. 1-ranked Brandon and the No. 2 regular season). Spartans. The contest didn’t disappoint, TWU Men's Volleyball 2018-2019 Trinity Western Combined Team Statistics (as of Mar 09, 2019) All matches Trinity Western Combined Team Statistics Overall record: 22-6 Conf: 18-4 Home: 12-3 Away: 10-3 Neutral: 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 13 Colton Loewen 26 1 0.04 0 1 1.000 5 0.19 2 0 0.08 2 9 0.35 0 0 0 0.00 0 0 - 20 Derek Epp 95 45 0.47 12 70 . 4 7 1 916 9.64 16 23 0.17 4 152 1.60 5 45 50 0.53 0 3 - 14 Aaron Boettcher 98 138 1.41 37 254 . 3 9 8 7 0.07 32 65 0.33 0 27 0.28 12 104 116 1.18 1 1 - 1 Pearson Eshenko 58 73 1.26 22 133 . 3 8 3 1 0.02 10 22 0.17 2 18 0.31 5 46 51 0.88 0 0 - 8 Eric Loeppky 92 328 3.57 91 672 .