HAMILTON, Ont. – Trinity Western men's volleyball seniors
Brodie Hofer (Langley, B.C.) and
Jesse Elser (Calgary) were both named U SPORTS First Team All-Canadians. The honours were announced on Thursday night at the All-Canadian Awards Ceremony in Hamilton, the host city of the 2023 U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship, presented by Mikasa.
This is the second time in Hofer's career he's been named an All-Canadian after being named to the First Team in 2021-22. For Elser, this is the second national honour of his career, having been named to the U SPORTS All-Rookie Team in 2017-18.
The Spartans open the U SPORTS Championship Friday with a quarter-final matchup against Montreal at 8 p.m. (ET). All games can be seen on all CBC Sports digital platforms, including the CBC Sports YouTube Channel.
Hofer was dominant in 2022-23 as he led the Spartans with 4.45 points per set (5th in CW). Hofer, who will graduate this spring, also led TWU in hitting percentage, at.392 (3rd in CW), kills per set, with 3.63 (7th in CW) and aces per set, with 0.67 (2nd in CW).
Elser was just behind Hofer in hitting percentage, at .366 (4th in CW) while also averaging .40 aces per set (7th in CW). Having lined up at libero at times throughout the year, the multi-talented Elser led the Spartans in digs per set, with 1.67 (10th in CW).
2023 MEN'S VOLLEYBALL AWARDS & ALL-CANADIANS
Most Valuable Player: Jordan Canham, Alberta
Rookie of the Year: Jordon Heppner, Manitoba
Student-Athlete Community Service Award: Cam Kern, Alberta
Fox40 Coach of the Year: James Gravelle, Windsor
First Team All Canadian
Athlete University Pos Yr Hometown Academic Program
Jordan Canham Alberta OH 4 Avonmore, Ont. Education
Yassine Kassis Montréal Lib 5 Sfax, Tunisia Information technology
Evan Falardeau Toronto LS 4 Stratford, Ont. Political Science
Chris Byam Mount Royal OH 3 Bow Island, Alta. Health & Physical Education
Yoan David Sherbrooke OH 3 Sherbrooke, Que. Computer Science
Dylan Mortensen Saskatchewan OH 5 Swift Current, Sask. Business
Erik Siksna Queen's OH 4 Markham, Ont. Commerce
Second Team All-Canadians
Athlete University Pos. Yr Hometown Academic Program
Nicholas Fortin Laval OH 3 Clermont, Que. Microbiology/Immunology (M)
Jonathan Portelance Sherbrooke S 2 La Prairie, Que. Education
Jackson Young Nipissing OH 3 Etobicoke, Ont. Physical Education and Health
Mateusz Wlodarski McMaster OH 5 Ottawa, Ont. Biochemistry (M)
Brodie Hofer Trinity Western OH 4 Langley, B.C. Business
Matt Neaves UBC OH 4 Calgary, Alta. Commerce
Jesse Elser Trinity Western OH 4 Calgary, Alta. Education
All-Rookie Team
Athlete University Pos. Hometown Academic Program
Jordon Heppner Manitoba MB Winnipeg, MB University 1
Charles St-Aubin Laval S Joliette, Que. Industrial design
Chris Zimmerman Queen's S Prince George, B.C. Arts & Science
Devin Cooney Brock OH Kanata, Ont. Media & Communication Studies
Lucas Condon-Oldreive Dalhousie MB Halifax, N.S. Engineering
Conaire Taub UBC OH Calgary, Alta. Kinesiology
Seba Manuel UBCO OH Kelowna, B.C. Health & Exercise Sciences
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby and varsity disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in CIS sports. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
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