WESMEN NEWS JANUARY 7 - JANUARY 13, 2008
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Fri. Jan. 11 Women’s Volleyball vs Alberta 4:00 p.m.
Fri. Jan. 11 Men’s and Women’s Basketball vs Alberta
(Women @ 6:00 p.m. Live on 1290 CFRW) (Men @ 8:00 p.m.)
Sat. Jan. 12 Women’s Volleyball vs Alberta 3:30 p.m.
Sat. Jan. 12 Men’s and Women’s Basketball vs Saskatchewan
(Women @ 5:30 p.m. Men @ 7:30 p.m.)
WESMEN GONDOLA PIZZA PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Nicola Dirks, women’s volleyball – Nicola, a fifth year left side and team captain was the best player on the court in the team’s two matches against Thompson Rivers. Dirks finished the weekend with 40 kills, 22 defensive digs and three blocks. In Friday’s match, Nicola finished with a match high 26 kills, which is the second highest in the Canada West Conference this season.
Ben Schellenberg, men’s volleyball – Ben was named MVP and was the most dominant player at the Thompson Rivers Invitational Tournament. In the two regular season matches against Thompson Rivers, Schellenberg finished with 33 kills, 11 digs, seven blocks and two service aces. Ben also led the Wesmen to a 3-1 victory over the Pepperdine Wave, ranked #2 in the NCAA finishing with 11 kills in the match.
GENERAL WESMEN NEWS
On Friday, January 11, 1290 CFRW will be broadcasting the Women’s Basketball game vs Alberta. The pre-game show begins at 5:45 p.m.. followed by the play by play action with Paul Edmonds and Steve Thompson at 6:00 p.m.
The 2008 Wesmen Summer Sports Camps will once again be taking place at the Duckworth Centre in July and August. Information will soon be available on www.wesmen.ca
Men’s Volleyball coach Larry McKay is currently in Caguas, Puerto Rico serving as an assistant coach with the Men’s National Volleyball Team. Canada Beat Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 yesterday and will face Cuba today. The winner of the event will qualify for the Olympic Games in Beijing, China later this summer.
WESMEN IN THE COMMUNITY
This Saturday afternoon from 2-4 p.m. six Wesmen athletes will help kick off the second half of the Carl Ridd Memorial Basketball League at the Rossbrook House. The league will have 50 kids taking part throughout the season.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
The Men’s Basketball Team evened their regular season record at 6-6 with a pair of victories against the Manitoba Bisons. On Thursday night at the Duckworth Centre Winnipeg had a strong fourth period to lift them to an 84-71 victory. Winnipeg outscored Manitoba 37-18 in the final frame to come back from a six point deficit for the victory. Erfan Nasajpour led the Wesmen with 29 points, including four-three pointers. Dan Shynkaryk finished with a double-double 13 points and 12 rebounds. The Wesmen completed the sweep of Manitoba on Saturday night defeating the Bisons at the U of M 80-73. Head Coach Dave Crook’s starting five had one of their best outings of the season scoring a combined 76 points in the game. Nasajpour led the group with a game high 27 points, followed by Matt Opalko with 19 points, including 15 in the second half. Dan Shynkaryk was solid once again with 16 points and Nick Lother had his best game as of late scoring 13 points, including three-three pointers. The Wesmen (6-6) will be at home this weekend with games against Alberta (8-4) on Friday at 8:00 p.m. and Saskatchewan (7-5) on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
The Women’s team started their second half regular season schedule with a split in the two game series against Manitoba. At home last Thursday night Winnipeg fell to Manitoba 54-48 in a tight defensive battle. Randie Gibson and Dawna Wright led Winnipeg with nine points each. Gibson connected for three-three pointers and Wright also hauled in a game high 12 rebounds. On Saturday night the scene shifted to the U of M and the Wesmen rebounded beating the Bisons 71-52. Three players scored in double-digits led by Dawna Wright’s 18 points. Jessica Stromberg had her best game of the season finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Randie Gibson had 10 points, including a trio of three pointers. Winnipeg will host Alberta (9-3) on Friday night, the game will be carried live on 1290 CFRW at 6:00 p.m. The Wesmen will wrap up the weekend against Saskatchewan (6-6), Saturday night at 5:30 p.m.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
The Men’s Volleyball Team were on the road in Kamloops, British Columbia to face Thompson Rivers in two regular season matches but also take part in the Thompson Rivers Invitational. On Wednesday night Winnipeg started their second half schedule defeating the Wolfpack 3-1 (25-16, 15-25, 26-24, 25-20). Ben Schellenberg led Winnipeg with 19 kills, followed by Middle Justin Duff, who collected 11 kills and five blocks. Winnipeg completed the two match sweep on Thursday with another 3-1 victory (25-22, 25-18, 19-25, 25-15). Schellenberg led Winnipeg with 14 kills, nine digs, and five blocks. The team finished the match with 19 blocks and eight service aces. The win also counted in the Tournament standings. On Friday Winnipeg defeated Pepperdine University, the number two ranked team in the NCAA rankings 3-1 (22-25, 25-13, 25-19, 25-20). Schellenberg led the charge with 11 kills, followed by Paul Kjos with nine kills. On the final day of the tournament on Saturday Winnipeg beat Laval 3-1 (26-24, 25-23, 14-25, 25-22) in the early match but were defeated 3-1 (25-18, 25-22, 20-25, 36-34) by Trinity Western. Winnipeg finished the tournament with a record of 3-1 and were crowned tournament champions. Ben Schellenberg was named the tournament MVP and Dustin Addison – Schneider was named to the tournament all-star team. The Wesmen sport a record of 8-2, and sit in second place in the Canada West Conference standings. The team will have the by this weekend and will next see action on Jan. 18-19 at home against Sasakatchewan.
WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL
The Women’s Volleyball Team started the second half of the regular season on the road in Kamloops, British Columbia for a weekend series against Thompson Rivers. In Friday’s opening match Thompson Rivers edged the Wesmen 3-2 (23-25, 28-26, 25-22, 22-25, 15-13). Fifth year left side Nicola Dirks led Winnipeg with a match high 26 kills. Dirks also had nine defensive digs and three blocks. Marlee Bragg finished with 14 kills and middle Dayna Kiesman had a strong match finishing with five blocks. On Saturday, the Wesmen played a better match but were defeated 3-2 (25-13, 11-25, 16-25, 25-16, 15-13) for the second consecutive night. Nicola Dirks finished with 14 kills and 13 defensive digs. Marlee Bragg and Lauren Sears finished with 13 kills each. Jayme Menzies dished out 39 assists and served up two service aces. The Wesmen (2-10) will host the defending CIS National Champions, the Alberta Pandas (7-3) on Friday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. and again on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.