If this year's Canada national junior volleyball team is any indication, the future of the CIS-champion Trinity Western University men's volleyball team is incredibly bright.
So is that of Coquitlam's Derek Thiessen.
Of the 14 players selected to Canada's men's national junior teamannounced Monday, four play for the Spartans, including the six-foot-five outside hitter Thiessen, who's a Centennial Centaurs high school grad.
Other TWU players named to the squad were Edmonton's Lucas Van Berkel, Brad Kufske of Abbotsford, and Branden Schmidt of Winton, Alta.
The team will compete at the men's world junior volleyball championships set for July 31 to Aug. 10 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The selections were decided following a 47-player try-out camp that was held recently at the men's national training centre in Gatineau, Que.
The roster features six players from the Canadian team that won the silver medal last summer at the NORCECA (North and Central America and Caribbean) championships in Gatineau, including tournament MVP Nicholas Hoag of Sherbrooke, Que.
That result qualified Canada for this year's world juniors.
Also from that 2010 team are Tommy Bélisle of Quebec City, Tristan Aubry of Edmonton, Tyler Sanders of London, Ont., Van Berkel and Schmidt. Others selected to the 2011 squad are Brett Wiess of Winnipeg, Daniel Moreau of Sherbrooke, Braden McLean of Birch Hills, Sask., Jay Olmstead of Edmonton, Alex Davis of White Rock, Jarron Mueller of Calgary, Kufske and Thiessen, who's entering his third year at TWU.
The team will train most of summer and currently has plans for preparation matches in early June in Canada. They will travel to Panama City to compete at the Under-21 Pan Am Cup from June 19-27.
In July, the squad will head to Argentina just prior to the world championships for final tune-up matches before arriving in Brazil on July 30.
Canada is hoping for a lucky number seven as they have competed in six previous World Junior Men's Championships, including a best result of fifth in 1999.
