Three former Bison men's volleyball players were part of Canada's men's volleyball team earning a berth to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
From Volleyball Canada: Canada's men's volleyball team will be at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. After a long, and sometimes heartbreaking, drought of 24 years, the team won the final berth at the World Olympic Qualification Tournament (WOQT) in Japan today. But it wasn't a day without drama: Canada knocked China out of the race for the final ticket after their victory in the fifth set (25-16, 20-25, 26-24, 25-20, 15-9) this afternoon, However, the Canadian team had to wait until Poland – already qualified and number one at the tournament – beat Australia in three sets following Canada's match before knowing its fate.
On the 14 players Canadian squad were three former Bisons – libero Dan Lewis, hitter Toon van Lankvelt and setter TJ Sanders.
van Lankvelt, 32, played five seasons with the Bisons from 2002-03 to 2006-07 season. The Rivers, MB native was first selected to Team Canada in 2005. He was named as the Canada West Rookie of the Year in 2002-03 plus Canada West First Team All-Star in 2004-05 and conference second team all-star in 2006-07. Lewis, 40, was selected as CIS Championship MVP when the Bisons won the CIS national title in 1995-96 season. In addition, the Oakville native won numerous accolades with the Bisons (includes: multiple GPAC All-Star; CIAU & GPAC Rookie of the Year; CIS Tournament All-Star) plus also part of Bisons' 2000-01 national championship team over his five year career at Manitoba (1995-01). Sanders, 24, played one season with the Bisons in the 2009-10 season. The London, ON native averaged 6.4 assists per set in his rookie campaign with the Herd.
Canada's men's team's last appearance was 1992 and the team finished 10th.The WOQT was a round robin tournament: eight teams were competing in 28 games, with each country playing seven matches in as many days. The top-ranked Asian team and the top three ranked teams, four (Poland, France, Iran and Canada) in total, qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
