Undefeated Winnipeg Wesmen Men’s Volleyball team has title aspirations

The Winnipeg Jets have been the talk of the town lately in Winnipeg, with a league-best 16-3 record. But there’s another team in Winnipeg that’s been blistering hot to begin their season, the University of Winnipeg Wesmen Men’s Volleyball team, who are off to their best start since 1997 when the team first joined the Canada West Conference.

“I think our success stems from off the court actually, just everything we do to kind of prepare for practice and for games.  With the addition of our new coach, I think our practice plans, everything off the court has allowed us to have really great success on the court and just throughout the season so far,” said Luke Lodewyks, University of Winnipeg volleyball player.

Chris Voth, the head coach of the volleyball team added, “The guys are doing awesome, they have tremendous grit that they’ve shown throughout the last couple of years, and I’m just trying to build off the legacy that the former coach Larry Mckay laid down for the program.”

The Wesmen are a perfect 8-0 to start the campaign, tied for the best record in the country, and their doing it thanks to the help of some home-grown talent.   17 members of the 18-man roster hail from Manitoba, and that familiarity, Lodewyks says, has been vital to the team’s strong play.

“Just growing up in Manitoba, there’s a lot of opportunities to play throughout the province, and I think all the guys from Manitoba have that bond already connected, so when they all end up on the same team it really creates an environment to succeed,” said Lodewyks.

It’s a program with a storied history, the Wesmen have won 10 national championships in men’s volleyball, tied for the most titles ever.  But they haven’t raised a banner since 2007, and this year’s team is poised to end that drought, especially since fate has it that the 2025 USports national championships are set to be held right here in town. 

“Yeah, I think every team in Usports is competing for a championship. Our second half is tough we play all the local teams and we always have good rivalries with those teams, so I’m really excited to see what happens in the second half of the season as well,” said Voth.

Lodewyks adding, “We have a great team this year, we definitely have a shot at winning a championship. It’s definitely one of the goals for myself and for the team as well. I think it’s going to be a great season and I can’t wait to see how far we can get.”