The 2019-20 season was significant for UFV’s volleyball program, as they announced that the men’s and women’s teams would be moving to the Canada West conference from PacWest. Now, UFV has brought on new players and the rosters have been almost completely overhauled.
Though few players from the 2019-20 season remain on the rosters, a staggering 21 new signings will play for the Cascades, should the season be allowed next year.
Fourteen of those signings are for the men’s team, the first of which being Tyson Ardell. The middle from the Mennonite Educational Institute in Abbotsford stands at 6’6 and is a tournament MVP from last year’s B.C. AA provincial championship. The next five new players, Reece Wilson (5’11 libero), Noah Bouius (6’9 middle), Keegan Hanrahan (6’7 middle), Braden White (6’4 setter), and Nathan Hall (5’11 libero) were announced just over a month later in February, with Wilson and Bouius being transfers from the College of the Rockies and Columbia Bible College, respectively.
Then in April, another four players were confirmed to be joining the team: Ryan Adams (6’9 right side), Bailey Burdick (6’6 left side), Josh Gagnon (6’2 left side), and Comrie Engbers (6’2 left side). Adams is the lone transfer of this group, having played at Thompson Rivers two seasons ago before taking the 2019-20 season off.
The last four players announced for the 2020-21 roster were a group of transfers from all over the world. Those players are Zach Wikenheiser (6’1 setter) from Lethbridge College in Alberta; Eduardo Ferreira (6’5 left side), a transfer from Humber College though originally from Brazil; Dimitrije Djordjevic (6’5 outside hitter), a transfer from Capilano College though originally from Serbia; and Stefan Halas (6’5 middle) from Columbia Bible College.
The women’s volleyball team also signed some new players, for a total of seven. The first six came to the program in March: Grace Warkentin (6’0 left side), Mo Likness (6’0 right side/middle), Emily Matsui (5’8 libero), Alicja Hardy-Francis (6’3 middle), Ellie Sinclair (6’2 middle), and Cailin Bitter (5’10 setter), a transfer from Douglas College. A second announcement was made nearly two months later in May that confirmed the final signing would be Elizabeth Baird (5’7 libero), a transfer from Briercrest College.
Though the spread of COVID-19 threatens the season, fans and supporters can expect news before Oct. 8, 2020, as confirmed by UFV.
Image: UFV Flickr
