Langley – For the third time in the last four years, the U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Player of the Year is a Trinity Western Spartan.
Fourth-year outside hitter Eric Loeppky takes home the honour after another outstanding season for the Spartans, leading the nation with a sparkling .443 hitting percentage, while finishing second in CW and fourth in U SPORTS in kills per set at 3.89. His 0.47 service aces per set were also top 10 in the country (8th).
Loeppky was a key part of TWU’s 20-2 regular season, which earned the Spartans the best record in Canada West.
This year, Loeppky became the Canada West all-time leader in career aces, finishing with 153. His 0.563 career aces per set also has him atop Canada West. His 4.570 career points per set, which included 1,002 career kills, sees him slot in sixth overall on the conference’s all-time leaderboard.
“When Eric is on your team you know you have to be at your best because he is always at his best. That leadership by example is largely why we’ve been as successful as we’ve been during his career,” said Trinity Western head coach Ben Josephson. “Eric leaves an incredible legacy with our program and an amazing example for future Spartans to aspire to be like. It has been one of my greatest honours in my career to coach Eric these past four years and I’m overjoyed to see him honoured by my coaching peers as the U SPORTS Player of the Year.”
Other TWU Spartans to earn Player of the Year include Adam Schriemer in 2017-18, Ryan Sclater in 2016-17, Nick Del Bianco in 2014-15, Ben Ball in 2011-12, and Josh Howatson in 2006-07.
.@TWUSpartans' Loeppky headlines U SPORTS men’s volleyball major award winners / Loeppky (Trinity Western) en tête d’affiche des prix majeurs de volleyball masculin U SPORTS#ChaseTheGlory | #ViserHaut
— U SPORTS (@USPORTSca) March 12, 2020
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