VB: Hofer, Bentley recognized as Players of the Week

VANCOUVER - Canada West announced Trinity Western's Brodie Hofer and Manitoba's Katreena Bentley as the final conference Volleyball Players of the Week for 2021 on Tuesday.

Hofer helped the Spartans remain undefeated as teams hit the semester break, while Bentley set the Bisons to a weekend split to close out the calendar year.

Trinity Western's five-game winning streak was on the line on Friday night with the Fraser Valley Cascades looking to score the upset. Hofer was a constant threat offensively, with 29 kills on 51 swings and six aces as the Spartans overcame a 2-1 deficit to take the match 3-2.

A night prior, Hofer was efficient on the attack in the Spartans' 3-0 sweep of the Cascades. The third-year from Langley, B.C. put away 17-of-24 attacks for kills (.667 K%) to go along with five digs and a pair of aces.

Hofer will move on as the conference's nominee for U SPORTS Athlete of the Week.

The Spartans (6-0) will return to the court January 21-22 against the UBC Okanagan Heat (4-2).

Game log: ​
​Dec. 2 - 17 kills, .667 K%, 5 digs, 2 aces in 3-0 W vs Fraser Valley
​Dec. 3 - 29 kills, .431 K%, 6 digs, 6 aces in 3-2 W vs Fraser Valley

First-year setter Katreena Bentley's big performance on Saturday helped the Bisons end a five-game losing skid and head into the break with a win.

Bentley racked up 45 assists to guide the offence, while amassing 23 digs on defence in Manitoba's 3-1 W over Regina on Saturday night.

On Friday, the Bisons came up on the short end of a 3-2 match, with the rookie from Winnipeg accounting for another 56 assists and 14 digs in the match.

Bentley did some scoring of her own on the weekend with five kills and three aces in the series.

Manitoba (3-5) will play crosstown rivals, the Winnipeg Wesmen (2-4), in a key home-and-home series January 21-22.

Game log: ​
​Dec. 3: 56 assists, 14 digs, 1 block asst, 2 kills in 3-2 L vs Regina ​
​Dec. 4: 45 assists, 23 digs, 3 aces, 3 kills in 3-1 W vs Regina