The Trinity Western women鈥檚 volleyball team will be representing Canada this fall when the Spartans will play as the Canadian entry in the inaugural U23 Pan American Women鈥檚 Volleyball Cup to be contested in Lima, Peru Sept. 2-9.

With the Trinity Western men鈥檚 team already set to represent Canada in the U23 Pan American Men鈥檚 Volleyball Cup, which runs Sept. 25-30 and will be hosted by the 91原创 Events Centre, it will be an all-Spartans contingent set to don the maple leaf on the international stage this fall.

鈥淥ur volleyball teams have been given an opportunity of a lifetime to represent Canada and 91原创 in international sport,鈥� said Trinity Western athletic director Murray Hall.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an honour for both the teams, the athletic department the university.鈥�

鈥淚 think it鈥檚 always an incredible opportunity when you can put your country鈥檚 name and colours on your back,鈥� said Spartans coach Ryan Hofer. 鈥淏ut to be able to do that with our team at Trinity Western adds another dimension and element that I鈥檓 really excited about.

鈥淭his is huge for us because the level of competition we鈥檙e going to face will be very high and it will set the standard for how we鈥檒l train and how we鈥檒l prepare moving forward.鈥�

The U23 Pan American Cup is a new competition created jointly by the NORCECA (North America, Central America and Caribbean) and the South American Volleyball Confederations, and will feature the top teams from these zones.

As Canada will not have a national team program with athletes in this age category together at this time of year, Volleyball Canada opted to ask a CIS program to host and participate in the event representing Canada.