The Trinity Western Spartans head into the holiday break at 10-0 and atop the Canadian rankings.
The men’s volleyball team needed five sets on Friday night and then only three on Saturday in sweeping a pair of matches against the host Thompson Rivers WolfPack in Kamloops.
Spartans coach Ben Josephson believes his team — the defending national champions — are right where they need to be as they head into the break.
“The results are taking care of themselves,” he said.
“I am really happy with the amount of work we have been able to put in this semester. We have trained on the weights extra hard and train a little bit more than usual. We have played a lot and have been able to utilize our entire bench. We are healthy, will be rested and now take four weeks off before the second half of the year.”
Josephson commented on the coming break after a well-travelled first semester.
“We have played a lot of volleyball. Two of our guys were with Canada’s FISU team and had only one week off before we started. We started early because of that Qatar trip. We had some kids playing juniors (Team Jr. Canada) and had beach kids. These guys are really tired of volleyball. They need a good long break to have their wounds heal and work on the weights. Once the second semester starts it will be a sprint to hopefully another berth in the CIS Nationals.”
Rudy Verhoeff led the Spartans on Saturday with 14 kills, seven digs and three blocks.
Steven Marshall had nine kills, plus three service aces, five digs and a block assist, and Ben Ball had 28 set assists.
In Friday’s five-setter, Verhoeff had 19 kills on 38 chances, with seven digs and three block assists. Marshall had 11 kills, another service ace, five digs and three block assists and Ball had 45 set assists.
Jarrod Offereins had 10 digs.
