PREVIEW: Heat Men to close out season against Griffins

In the final matches of the 2016/17 Canada West regular season, the Heat men will take on the MacEwan Griffins in Kelowna. Swiatlowski and Sonneberg with their last matches for the Heat. 

UBC OKANAGAN HEAT (10-23, 7-15 Canada West)
CIS National Ranking: N/A
CanWest Standings: 10th
Last week: 2-0 vs TRU
Streak: 2W
2015-16 Record: (12-24, 4-20)  (11th)
2016 CanWest Playoffs: N/A
2016 CIS Tournament: N/A
Last CanWest Title: N/A
Last CIS Title: N/A

• SCHEDULE
• ROSTER
• STATS
• STANDINGS

This Week for the Heat: The UBC Okanagan Heat men’s volleyball team will play the final matches of their season this weekend, against the MacEwan Griffins on Friday, February 24 and Saturday, February 25 in the UBC Okanagan gymnasium.

Current Form: The Heat men snapped a three-match losing streak last weekend with a pair of wins against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in the schools’ annual home-and-home series. With a record of 7-15 they will miss the playoffs this season, but will be looking to finish on a high note and take the pair from Grant Mac to end the 2016/16 schedule with a four-match winning streak.

Key Players: Fourth year outside hitter Lars Bornemann continues to be a big presence for the Heat as the team leader in kills with 254. Alex Swiatlowski still sits in the top five in Canada West with a hitting percentage of .309, and Eli Risso is atop the conference in both digs and digs per set, with 254 and .326 respectively.

Team Stat: If the team can win both against MacEwan the Heat will set a new school high mark with nine wins in Canada West. That would best the 2011/12 squad's mark by a win. As a team the Heat have put together 2373 total attacks, seventh-most in Canada West so far this season.

Overall Head to Head vs. MacEwan: The Heat and Griffins have played four times in conference matches, and the UBCO men hold the advantage with a 3-1 record. Their last match was on February 13, 2016 in a match won 3-2 by the Heat.

MACEWAN UNIVERSITY GRIFFINS (4-18)      
CIS National Ranking: N/A
CanWest Standings: 11th
Last week: 0-2 vs MAN
Streak: 2L
2015-16 record, conference: 3-21, 12th
2016 CW playoffs: DNQ
Last CW title: N/A
Last CIS title: N/A

• SCHEDULE
• ROSTER
• STATS
• STANDINGS

preseason preview courtesy of Canadawest.org

Griffins Coming into this Weekend: MacEwan will be coming out of a bye week to visit Kelowna. Their last matches were on their home court, where they lost both to Manitoba on February 10 & 11.

Schedule Notes: The Griffins have played just three teams with losing records at the moment, and are 4-2 against them. Their four wins this season have come against teams that sit lower than them in the standings.

Key Players: Kai Hesthammer leads the Griffins’ attack this season, with 232 kills on the season. Max Vriend and Kornel Kowalewski are MacEwan’s best defensive players at the net, with 65 and 63 total blocks respectively, and their setter Matthew Mohler has amassed 625 assists.

Graduates: The visiting Griffins have three graduating seniors on the men's team: #10 Matt Mohler (Setter, Edmonton, AB), #18 Josh Peters (Setter, Edmonton, AB) and #15 Ryan McDonald (Leftside, Westlock, AB).

Team Stat: The Griffins have the third-most digs this season, with a team total of 889.

Key additions (name / position / eligibility / hometown / last team):
Jordan Peters / LS / 1 / Edmonton, AB / NAVC
Josh Peters / S / 5 / Edmonton, AB / King's University College
Andre Arsenault / L / 3 / Edmonton, AB / Medicine Hat College
Kornel Kowalewski / M / 4 / Poland / Keyano College

Key losses:
None

Key performers:
Ryan McDonald, LS, 5^th-year, Westlock, AB
Max Vriend, M, 2^nd-year, Barrhead, AB

Graduating student athletes:

#6 Alex Swiatlowski  -

Alex was a highly sought-after recruit out of Victoria's Oak Bay High School in 2012 where he won a provincial championship in grade 11. Alex will graduate with a Bachelor of Science this coming June.

Majoring in medical biochemistry Alex will look to play professionally next year and eventually move on to continue his academic pursuits in the field of pharmacy.

Going into his final weekend of conference action Alex has played over 300 sets in Canada West for the Heat (313) and will fall just shy of 100 matches - 96 going into this weekend. The 96 matches are the most in school history and the 313 sets is the second highest total amassed at UBC Okanagan.

Alex, who was a finalist for Outstanding Athlete of the Year last year at UBC Okanagan last spring, has his name littered throughout the record books with the Heat. Going into this weekend his 624 kills put him 6th, his 411digs are also 6th and his 146 total blocks are 7th-best. These numbers give him a total of 758.5 points (624k 47a 117b) - 5th best at UBCO.

Alex's consistency on the court is evidenced by the statistics, but it is his leadership and his dedication to Heat athletics, although not in a record book, that can surely be measured.

Last spring Alex was one of two student MC’s to host the annual athletic banquet and he has been one of the team captains this season. This year Alex also stepped up with the Heat Athletic Council (HAC), in his second straight year as a representative from men's volleyball, when he was elected co-president.

With the school rivalry versus the UBC Thunderbirds always a highlight on the yearly schedule, and consistently drawing the biggest crowds in the 'Furnace', Alex always seems to play his best in the biggest match. His career high in kills of 23 was set in Kelowna versus UBC (Jan 29/16). Somehow Alex was continually ‘on’ when battling his sister-campus rivals. Evidenced by his second- and third-highest kill totals being also against the 'Birds; 20 kills in Kelowna (Jan 11/2014), and 19 kills in Vancouver at UBC (Jan 6/17). His career best from the service line was also against UBC - he swung for 4 aces on Jan. 29, 2016.

#8 Grant Sonnenberg - A graduate of Jasper Place High School in Edmonton, Grant transferred to the Heat after a year at MacEwan University - the team he will close out his career against this weekend. His full circle career brought him to UBC Okanagan for the academics.

Grant graduated with his Degree in Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering last June, and he decided to keep playing when he was accepted in a graduate program on the Okanagan campus of UBC and has spent his final season marrying his studies and research with his athletic pursuits.

In Grant's first season with UBC Okanagan (2012/13) he earned the recognition of an Academic All-Canadian (CIS). Always excelling as a teammate, Grant spent four seasons with the Heat continually improving himself as a player on the court, in the classroom, and in training. As a transfer student Grant was a presence in the locker room immediately, and one his coaches could point to as to how hard you need to work to be able to compete on a university roster.

Always available to lend a hand, Grant was an invaluable member of his team when it came to helping with community outreach, coaching the sport or club teams, or teaching volleyball to elementary school-aged children. He was always ready to help within the athletics department as well as with his team or the other student athletes.