Ryan Sclater is ending his collegiate volleyball career on a high note, winning the U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship with the Trinity Western University Spartans in Edmonton last weekend.
TWU took down the Alberta Golden Bears 3-1 (25-20, 25-20, 27-29, 25-23) in a game that saw the Port Coquitlam athlete log a 12-kill performance, adding eight digs and five block assists.
“I’m just so grateful to be a part of this team,” said Sclater after the game. “It’s going to be hard to leave these guys behind. That’s the thing I love the most — just playing every day with my best friends.”
The win capped a busy week for the Spartan.
Last Tuesday, Sclater was named Canada West Player of the Year after finishing the season with the fifth best single-season league point performance with 427.5. He also logged 4.29 kills per set, collecting 369 over the course of the year.
“Ryan’s year was special,” said Spartans coach Ben Josephson. “We’ve had some great outside players come through here and the year he put together is statistically the best outside season we’ve ever seen.”
Sclater, a Port Coquitlam resident who graduated from Terry Fox secondary, was named conference all-star for the third year in a row and posted a .308 hit percentage on the way to 21 regular season wins for the Spartans.
He also had 38 kills in two matches during the Canada West Final Four, where he was named MVP.
“He’s a pretty special player,” said Josephson. “Not a lot of athletes I’ve had can play both sides and play that many different roles at a high level every single weekend. He has been incredible all season long and is very deserving of this award.”
The Spartans have won four of the last seven national championships and have played in six of the past eight U SPORTS gold medal matches.
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