OTTAWA (June 16, 2009) – Gaels’ alumni Adam Simac of Ottawa was one of 12 athletes named to the men’s volleyball roster representing Canada at the 25th Summer Universiade set for in Belgrade, Serbia from July 1-12, 2009.
2009 Summer Universiade website:
www.universiade-belgrade2009.org
Team Canada website:
www.universitysport.ca/belgrade
The Canadian squad, which is looking to reach the podium for a second straight FISU Games, is comprised of current and former CIS stars such as setter Dustin Schneider of Brandon, Man., and right side Joel Schmuland of Calgary, who were named CIS championship most valuable players in 2006-07 and 2008-09, respectively.
Two years ago in Bangkok, Thailand, the Canadian spikers, led by University of Montreal head coach Georges Laplante, equalled their best-ever FISU performance with a second-place finish, following a gold-medal loss to Turkey. Canada’s first silver medal came in 1983 in Edmonton.
Selected by Volleyball Canada to the senior national team earlier this spring, Schneider, a CIS champion with the Winnipeg Wesmen in 2006-07, is lent to the university squad for the Belgrade Games.
“The team will be significantly younger than in 2007, probably by two or three years on average, and doesn’t include a single player with Universiade experience,” said Laplante, who will once again lead Team Canada and will make his fourth World University Games. “I don’t like setting specific objectives in terms of final standings, but our expectations are high despite the fact we are a team in development.”
With his selection to Team Canada, the 6-foot-7 Schmuland extends a dream season that saw him win a third national title in five years with the Alberta Golden Bears, be named CIS player of the year and receive the BLG Award as CIS male athlete of the year. The physical education student finished among CIS leaders in every major statistical category this past season maintaining, among others, a 4.79 point-per-set average and tallying 3.93 kills per set.
“Joel will obviously be an important player for us but this will be his first major international competition, so he will have to adjust to a new environment,” said Laplante, who also singled out Adam Simac, a middle from Ottawa who spent four campaigns at Queen’s, as another player to watch.
Simac will also represent Canada at the Pan America Games held June 13-21st in a warm-up of these games.
Two of Schmuland’s teammates on the reigning CIS champion Golden Bears will be wearing the maple leaf in Serbia as setter Michael DeRocco of Winnipeg and left side Thomas Jarmoc of Calgary also made the cut.
A trio of 2008-09 CIS all-Canadians will also make the trip to Belgrade including UBC left side Steve Gotch of Okotoks, Alta., Dalhousie left side Sander Ratsep of London, Ont., and Dalhousie middle Max Burt of Gander, Nfld.
Rounding out the red and white squad are UBC’s Blair Bann of Edmonton, the 2007-08 CIS libero of the year, Laval right side Frédéric Desbiens of La Malbaie, Que., Winnipeg middle Justin Duff of Winnipeg and libero Benoit Raymond of Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que., who played for the Sherbrooke Vert & Or in 2007-08.
Dalhousie’s Dan Ota, who was part of Laplante’s coaching staff in 2007, and Red Deer College’s Aaron Schulha will assist the Montreal head coach in Belgrade. Robert Forges, also of the Carabins, will be in charge of statistics and video.
Canada will most likely be in tough in Group C with opponents such as 2005 Universiade finalist Japan, and the Ukraine, which defeated the Canadians 3-2 in pool play in 2007 and is known for its physical play.
“As they are set to host the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, I also expect Great Britain to be solid,” added Laplante, a member of the national team program for over 20 years. “Slovenia usually has a number of good players and Egypt is more often than not the best team out of Africa, so every preliminary-round match should be challenging.”
From June 13 to 21, the vast majority of the FISU selection will compete at the Pan Am Cup in Mexico before returning to the national centre in Gatineau, Que., for one last week of training. Team Canada is scheduled to arrive in Belgrade on June 29.
The Canadians open the Universiade tournament against Great Britain on July 2. The semi-finals are set for July 10 with the bronze and gold-medal games going the next day.
Besides its two silver medals, Canada’s best result in men’s volleyball at the Summer Universiade is a seventh-place finish in 2003 in Daegu, South Korea.
TEAM CANADA ROSTER
Position Name University Eligibility * Hometown
Setter Michael DeRocco Alberta 4 Winnipeg, Man.
Setter Dustin Schneider Winnipeg A Brandon, Man.
Left Side Steve Gotch UBC 5 Okotoks, Alta.
Left Side Thomas Jarmoc Alberta 4 Calgary, Alta.
Left Side Sander Ratsep Dalhousie 3 London, Ont.
Right Side Frédéric Desbiens Laval 2 La Malbaie, Que.
Right Side Joel Schmuland Alberta 5 Calgary, Alta.
Middle Max Burt Dalhousie 3 Gander, Nfld.
Middle Justin Duff Winnipeg 3 Winnipeg, Man.
Middle Adam Simac Queen’s B Ottawa, Ont.
Libero Blair Bann UBC 3 Edmonton, Alta.
Libero Benoît Raymond Sherbrooke C Vaudreuil-Dorion, Que.
* Indicates year of CIS eligibility in 2008-09;
A - Schneider used his 5th year of eligibility in 2007-08;
B – Simac played 4 years at Queen’s from 2002-03 to 2005-06;
C – Raymond used his 2nd year of eligibility in 2007-08 and did not play CIS volleyball in 2008-09.
STAFF
Head coach: Georges Laplante, University of Montreal, Montreal, Que.
Assistant coach: Dan Ota, Dalhousie University, Halifax, N.S.
Assistant coach: Aaron Schulha, Red Deer College, Red Deer, Alta.
Statistics & Video: Robert Forges, University of Montreal, Caen, France
Therapist: Louis-Mathieu Dorval, Ottawa, Ont.
CANADA’S SCHEDULE AND DRAW:
July 2 Preliminaries Group C: Canada vs. Great Britain
July 4 Preliminaries Group C: Canada vs. Slovenia
July 5 Preliminaries Group C: Canada vs. Egypt
July 6 Preliminaries Group C: Canada vs. Japan
July 7 Preliminaries Group C: Canada vs. Ukraine
July 9 Quarterfinals
July 10 Semi-finals
July 11 Bronze & Final
Group A: Serbia, Russia, Sweden, Lebanon, South Africa
Group B: Turkey, Brazil, Montenegro, Switzerland, China
Group C: Canada, Ukraine, Slovenia, Great Britain, Japan, Egypt
Group D: Germany, Czech Republic, Poland, United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Australia
CANADA’S RESULTS AT RECENT SUMMER UNIVERSIADES:
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): 2nd (tied previous best result from 1983 in Edmonton)
2005 (Izmir, Turkey): 10th
2003 (Daegu, South Korea): 7th (best result after silver medals from 1983 and 2007)
CANADA’S BEST FINISH AT THE SUMMER UNIVERSIADE:
2007 (Bangkok, Thailand): silver medal
1983 (Edmonton, Canada): silver medal
About the Summer Universiade
The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years, and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors between the ages of 17 and 28 in the year of the Games who are full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Fifty-two universities, 10,000 student-athletes and 550 coaches vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. The CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, and 32 World University Championships. For further information, visit www.universitysport.ca.