DUFF, SCHNEIDER SELECTED TO CANADA’S UNIVERSIADE VOLLEYBALL TEAM

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 - The University of Winnipeg in conjunction with Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) and Volleyball Canada are pleased to announce that Wesmen middle Justin Duff and former star setter Dustin Schneider have been selected as two of the 12 players who will represent Canada in men’s volleyball at the 25th Summer Universiade set to take place July 1-12, 2009 in Belgrade Serbia.

Duff recently completed his third season with the Wesmen. The 6’7” middle blocker finished in the top 15 in several Canada West categories this past season including fourth in blocks (66), sixth in attack percentage (.416) and 14th in kills (169). A two time CIS medal winner, Duff played a vital role in helping the Wesmen capture the gold medal at the 2007 CIS Men’s Volleyball Championships in Hamilton, Ontario and a silver medal at the 2008 Championships in Laval, Quebec. Duff is no stranger to the National Program as he was named to the Canadian National Junior Team in 2005.

Schneider, recently selected by Volleyball Canada to the senior national team earlier this spring, is lent to the university squad for the Belgrade Games. Schneider, a 6’0” setter from Brandon, Manitoba completed his fifth and final season of university level volleyball with the Wesmen in 2007-08 and was named both a First Team All-Canadian and Canada West All Star. Schneider was a key member of the Wesmen team that won a silver medal at the 2007-08 CIS Men’s Volleyball National Championship in Laval, Quebec where he was named a tournament all-star. Dustin finished second in Canada West Conference in set assists (733) and assists/ per game (10.94). Schneider was named MVP and a Tournament All-Star at the 2006-07 CIS Men’s National Volleyball Championships in helping the Wesmen capture the gold medal.

From June 13 to 21, the vast majority of the FISU selection will compete at the Pan Am Cup in Mexico before returning to the national centre in Gatineau, Que. for one last week of training.

Team Canada is scheduled to arrive in Belgrade on June 29.  The Canadians open the Universiade tournament against Great Britain on July 2. The semi-finals are set for July 10 with the bronze and gold-medal games going the next day.

Besides its two silver medals, Canada's best result in men's volleyball at the Summer Universiade is a seventh-place finish in 2003 in Daegu, South Korea.

CANADAS SCHEDULE AND DRAW:

July 2            Preliminaries Group C: Canada vs. Great Britain
July 4            Preliminaries Group C: Canada vs. Slovenia
July 5            Preliminaries Group C: Canada vs. Egypt
July 6            Preliminaries Group C: Canada vs. Japan
July 7            Preliminaries Group C: Canada vs. Ukraine
July 9           Quarterfinals
July 10          Semi-finals
July 11          Bronze & Final

CANADAS RESULTS AT RECENT SUMMER UNIVERSIADES:

2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): 2nd (tied previous best result from 1983 in Edmonton)
2005 (Izmir, Turkey): 10th
2003 (Daegu, South Korea): 7th (best result after silver medals from 1983 and 2007)

CANADAS BEST FINISH AT THE SUMMER UNIVERSIADE:

2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): silver medal
1983 (Edmonton, Canada): silver medal

 
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Sheldon Appelle
Sports Information Coordinator
University of Winnipeg
(204) 786-9823
s.appelle@uwinnipeg.ca
www.wesmen.ca