It was 90 minutes before his team鈥檚 CIS national men鈥檚 volleyball semifinal game when Trinity Western Spartans starting setter Ben Ball finally emerged from his hotel room.
Immediately following his team鈥檚 quarter-final victory over Dalhousie the night before, Ball had rushed back to the Spartans鈥� hotel.
He spent all night vomiting and all day in bed.
To make matters worse, his back-up, Devyn Plett was also sick and sharing a hotel room with Ball.
Ball, one of three graduating seniors on the team, was a 鈥渓ittle bit worried鈥� this was how he would spend his final days in a Spartan uniform.
鈥淚 was getting tons of text messages and Facebook email from people praying for me,鈥� Ball said on Monday, from the Ottawa airport where the team was awaiting its flight home.
鈥淚t was really encouraging to hear all that support I had and all the people who were thinking and praying for me.
鈥淚 really think God gave me the strength to play in that game because I didn鈥檛 really eat all day and I don鈥檛 think I could have done it (played) otherwise.鈥�
Ball emerged to take the court, both in Saturday鈥檚 victory over the host team from Queen鈥檚, and then the next afternoon, against the Laval Rouge et Or, in the championship final.
The Spartans won both games, 3-0 in the semifinal and 3-1 in the final, to capture the program鈥檚 , as the CIS men鈥檚 national champions.
Ball, who felt much better by Sunday, was named the tournament鈥檚 most valuable player. He was also named the at Thursday鈥檚 awards banquet.
鈥淭hat (award) is a huge credit to my teammates,鈥� Ball said.
鈥淓veryone was playing incredible, which made it a lot easier on me.鈥�
鈥淚t feels awesome (to win again); the season has been pretty incredible.鈥�
The Spartans went a combined 34-2 against CIS competition, including 24-1 in league play and playoffs.
And after they dropped that lone match, the team lost just four sets over the final 10 matches.
鈥淚f we hadn鈥檛 lost to Manitoba in the middle of the season, I don鈥檛 think we could have pushed through against Laval in the finals,鈥� Ball said.
鈥淟aval came out flying and we had to turn to each other and learn from the one loss we had.鈥�
Laval won the opening set 25-19, but the Spartans responded by winning 25-19, 25-17 and 30-28. 
鈥淓ver since that loss (to Manitoba), this group has been unbelievable, at a level I have never seen before,鈥� said coach Ben Josephson.
The coach also raved about the play of Ball, especially considering the circumstances.
鈥淲e didn鈥檛 even know if he could stand up,鈥� Josephson said.
鈥淲e were pretty concerned but he battled through it and then got better for the final.鈥�
With Ball quarterbacking the offence, the Spartans had a team hitting percentage of .400, a number much higher than normal. By comparison, Laval鈥檚 attack percentage was .175.
鈥淚 think the guys picked up their play to a level I haven鈥檛 seen,鈥� Josephson said. 鈥淚 think they rallied to protect Ben. As Marc (Howatson) said, 鈥渉e has made us look so good this year, let鈥檚 make sure he looks good.鈥欌��
Trinity Western Spartans' trio of graduating seniors 鈥� Ben Ball (left to right), Rudy Verhoeff and Marc Howatson 鈥� accepted the Tantramar Trophy and CIS championship banner at Queen's University on Sunday.
Dan Jansen Van Doorn was named player of the match in Sunday鈥檚 final. Rudy Verhoeff and Steven Marshall were named tournament all-stars.
Ball, Verhoeff and Howatson are the team鈥檚 graduating seniors.
The Spartans cleaned up at the CIS awards banquet last week, winning .
In addition to Ball winning the CIS player of the year, Josephson was named coach of the year, Jarrod Offereins was the top libero and Verhoeff won the Dale Iwanoczko Award, which is presented to the player who shines not only on the court, but in the classroom and the community.
