Jul 29, 2019
 
 
LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western setter Brie King (Langley) along with Spartan alums Kristen Moncks (Standard, Alta) and Alicia Perrin (Creston, B.C.) will represent Canada at the Intercontinental Olympic Volleyball Qualification tournament to be held in Kaliningrad, Russia Aug. 2-4. The trio was named to a 14-player roster that will be looking to earn a direct ticket to Tokyo 2020. Spartans men's volleyball head coach Ben Josephson is also with the team as an assistant coach.
The event is Canada's first chance to qualify for next summer's Olympic Games. Canada will be in a pool with Korea, Russia and Mexico, with the teams competing in a single round-robin system over three match days. Following the single round robin, the highest placed National Federation will earn a ticket to Tokyo 2020.

There are six qualification tournaments held this year for indoor women's volleyball. The women's (August 1-4) tournaments are taking place in Poland, China, USA, Brazil, Italy and Russia. Canada has participated in the Olympic Games three times, in 1976, 1984 and 1996.

"The pinnacle of sport is going to the Olympics," Josephson said. "We've trained all summer for two objectives – one was to qualify for VNL (Volleyball Nations League), which we did, and the next thing to do is to qualify for the Olympics and this is our first shot at it. The nerves and excitement and the work has gone into this one trip to see if we can live our dream of going to the Olympics. This is what sport is all about. We're three wins away from doing something that very few human beings ever get to experience."

As for TWU's contingent, all three Spartans previously represented Canada at the Pan American Cup earlier this year, where the team finished sixth overall. Earlier this summer, Canada finished first at the FIVB Volleyball Challenger Cup, which earned the Canadians a berth into the 2020 Volleyball Nations League.

"I think the program is in a great place and, based on how we've been training, I think we have a really good chance going into Russia," Moncks said. "We've stacked the deck and we're prepared for whatever battles come our way."
While both Moncks and Perrin have been mainstays with the senior team for several years, for King, the appointment sees her fast-tracked season continue, as this weekend's event marks the summer's biggest competition for Canada but only King's second tournament with the senior team. King started with Canada's NextGen squad, but over the summer worked her way into the Senior A squad.

"The craziest part is that you dream about this sort of stuff when you're a child," King said. "The feeling with this team is that we can beat every team at this tournament and qualify. We know we can do it and we need to play our best and we can win. We're aware that we're not ranked first in our pool for a reason, but we're way better than we were when we got ranked for this event."

King is coming off her fourth year at TWU, helping guide the Spartans to a Canada West championship last season.

"I've been so incredibly supported by Trinity," King said. "I feel there's a huge village behind me from Trinity that's just like 'go get 'em and see how far you can go and do us proud.'"

TOKYO VOLLEYBALL QUALIFICATION – KALININGRAD
WATCH: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/broadcast
SCHEDULE
August 2 – Canada vs. Korea – 7 a.m. (PT)
August 3 – Canada vs. Russia – 10 a.m. (PT)
August 4 – Canada vs. Mexico – 7 a.m. (PT)
More info on qualification: (http://www.fivb.org/EN/Volleyball/FINAL_Tokyo%202020_Qualification_system_Volleyball.pdf)
ROSTER
#1 Jessie Niles, Turner Valley, AB
#3 Kiera Van Ryk, Surrey, BC
#4 Kyla Richey (C), Roberts Creek, B.C.
#5 Danielle Smith, Beaverlodge, AB
#9 Alexa Gray, Calgary, AB
#11 Andrea Mitrovic, Mississauga, ON
#12 Jennifer Cross, Scarborough, ON
#13 Brie O'Reilly (King), Langley, BC
#15 Sarah Chase, Campbell River, BC
#16 Shainah Joseph, Ottawa, ON
#17 Kristen Moncks, Standard, AB
#19 Marie-Alex Bélanger, Saint-Alphonse-Rodriguez, QC
#20 Alicia Perrin, Creston, BC
#23 Emily Maglio, Coquitlam, BC

STAFF
Head Coach: Tom Black

Assistant Coach: Ben Josephson
Assistant Coach: Jeff Baxter
Athletic Trainer: Fraser Perry
Team Leader: Kerry MacDonald

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men's hockey and as an independent team in men's rugby. The men's and women's hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.

-TW-