WVB: UFV Cascades top preseason poll

Oct. 18, 2023 - A new season of Canada West women's volleyball gets served up this Friday, and it's anyone's guess as to which team is going to emerge on top in early March.

CW coaches were split in what proved to be one of the closest pre-season coaches polls in recent memory. Five teams received first place votes, including University of the Fraser Valley, Alberta, UBC, Manitoba and Trinity Western.

The UFV Cascades narrowly took top spot, garnering four first-place votes. The Cascades are looking to take another step forward after a quarterfinals appearance last season, and will be led by the reigning CW and U SPORTS women's volleyball player of the year in outside hitter Gabrielle Attieh.

Attieh led the nation in kills and points last season, while becoming only the fifth player in CW history to eclipse the 400 kill mark in a single season. A threat on both offence and defence, the Surrey, B.C. product also finished seventh in the conference in digs.

Placing second in the poll were the Manitoba Bisons, who return their entire roster and will be led by hometown product Raya Surinx. Last year's U SPORTS Rookie of the Year played a massive role in helping the Bisons advance to nationals last season for the first time since 2014.

Fifth-year libero Kacey Jost will lead the defending national champion UBC Thunderbirds into battle, as they ranked third in the coaches poll and will look to recreate their magical U SPORTS title run. The pillar of UBC's defence, Jost was named Canada West Libero of the Year for 2022-23, the first time in eight years the award was handed out and the first Thunderbird to win since Claire Hanna in 2010. Jost amassed 337 total digs on the season for an average of 4.01 per set.

A young Alberta Pandas side finished fourth in the poll and will feature several first-year student-athletes guided by new head coach Carolyn O'Dwyer. A large work load will fall to the Panda's veterans, especially fifth-year outside Lauryn Tremblay. The second team CW All-Star finished third in the conference with 333 kills and 3.7 kills per set a year ago, and will once again see a healthy dose of attempts for the Pandas this season.

Defending CW champion Trinity Western rounded out the top five. The Spartans went an impressive 22-2 last season before going 5-0 in the Canada West playoffs to capture the conference crown. The Spartans will be led by third year middle Kaylee Plouffe.

“Kaylee is a force at the net offensively and defensibly," says Spartans head coach Ryan Hofer. "Our ability to get her the ball off serve receive and position her to take high quality swings allows us to form our offence and set up the people around her to be successful."

The action begins Friday with a full slate of seven games, including a hotly anticipated season opening matchup between UFV and TWU.

For the complete schedule, click here.

For a team by team preview, click here.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL ON CANADA WEST TV

Fans can catch all the action through the new look CanadaWest.TV, which now allows fans to watch games on popular Connected TV apps like Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Android TV.

2023-24 CW WVB PRESEASON COACHES POLL

Team - Points (First-place votes)