2026/27 Men's Volleyball Season Preview
Blazers MVB will be losing MCAC All-Conference selections Duncan Petrie (#4) and Markus Martens (#11) who both graduated in the spring
The Blazers Men's Volleyball program opened the recruiting window way back in November, and have since worked to fill the limited vacancies in the lineup, choosing instead to lean heavily on returning student-athletes to step up and produce when the season starts in October. Perhaps the silver lining of an injury bug hitting the team last year is the valuable in-game experience it will give some of this year's sophomores in pushing for those spots. A season-ending injury to Matthew Janzen, as well as time off for Curran Chan and Austin Spicer all led to some breakout performances from Deklen Vergara and Owen Giesbrecht, and with ongoing off-season training underway, the competition looks to be hot once again to crack the starting lineup in 2026/27.
Blazers Athletics continues its 2026/27 team previews with the Blazers Men's Volleyball team, noting new additions, key returnees, and losses to the lineup heading into the season:
Outgoing Players
Blazers Athletics honoured graduating student-athletes Duncan Petrie, Markus Martens, and Luke Janzen at their final regular season match of the 2025/26 campaign. Petrie, the starting right side and co-captain of the squad will surely be missed for his leadership, athleticism, and experience that made him one of the most prolific outside hitters in program history. Martens, a mainstay at middle since his rookie season was a two-time All-Conference selection, and his athleticism and ability to come up with clutch plays in the front row will be hard to immediately replace. Janzen took over starting libero duties this past season, and saw incredible growth in his game throughout his career with the Blazers.
Also leaving CMU is Alex Murphy, who finished up his business classes at CMU and will be transferring to Capilano University, where he intends to finish out his eligibility in his home province of British Columbia with the Blues.
Incoming Recruits
Filling those holes in the lineup are a number of new recruits and additions to the squad including signees Nolin Gallagher, Kenai Warkentin, and Jesse Friesen, while Nicolas Leflar looks to jump onto the roster after red shirting for the 2025/26 season.
Nolin Gallagher | 6'1" Libero | Linden Christian School | Team Manitoba
One of the top defensive specialists out of this year's pool of graduating student-athletes, expect Nolin to push returning libero Jackson Pichurski for starter's minutes, or perhaps see himself used as part of a libero tandem, as is now allowed under CCAA rules, with one libero primarily used for serve receive, and the other as a defensive specialist. Either way, Gallagher appears to be the full package and will fill in the vacancy left by Luke Janzen.
Coach's Quote: "I've been working with Nolin since he was in grade 10, both at Linden Christian and through Team Manitoba. He is a great technical passer, possesses amazing reading skills on defence, and has a great attitude, and has a great attitude on and off the court. I am extremely excited to have him on board for next year."
Kenai Warkentin | 6'2" Middle | St Michael's School | Lethbridge Club
With plenty of ties to CMU, Blazers head coach Jack Tyrrell was happy to sign Kenai Warkentin to his squad, as some other larger programs showed interest in the dynamic middle as well. Warkentin will fill the void left by Markus Martens, and is very much in the same mould as a slightly undersized, but bouncy athlete who has the ability to swing the momentum of a match. There will certainly be stiff competition amongst his middle peers on the team for the starting spot, but don't count Warkentin out as someone who can level up his skills to the college game quickly and push for playing time.
Coach's Quote: "I am really excited for Kenai to join our program. With some big players leaving next year, Kenai looks to fill into some key roles. I was immediately impressed by his athletic ability, but I have been even more impressed by his character, strong reputation, and coachability."
Jesse Friesen | 6'2" Left Side | Westgate Mennonite Collegiate | 204 Club
Signed as a red shirt outside, Jesse Friesen is a raw talent that will benefit greatly from training and practicing with top-level college athletes. The athletic left side has ony been playing volleyball for a few years, and so his learning curve is very steep, but he has unmistakeable upside if he's able to continue his trajectory.
Coach's Quote: "Jesse shows great promise and athleticism. As someone who only started playing volleyball recently, we are excited to see his potential and growth already starting to show after one year of club with 204. In addition to these metrics, Jesse shows great character and an eagerness to learn and get better. We are excited to see what the future has in store for him."
Returning to the Roster
The Blazers Men's Volleyball program is leaning on its internal depth to step into vacant starting roles this upcoming season, with some of the new recruits also expected to make their way into the mix. Sustaining a deep and talented roster over its last few seasons and developing its student-athletes to allow them to grow into starters has been a hallmark of the program recently. Key returnees to the lineup this season include co-captain and starting setter Ryan Bilous, who felt he took the biggest stride of his college career last season, and is primed to compete as the top setter in the conference. Curran Chan has also been knocking on the door of being one of the premier outsides in the MCAC over his previous two seasons, and if he can manage a complete season at full health has the ability to put up some great numbers.
The cast of returning outsides is perhaps Blazers head coach Jack Tyrrell's biggest "good problem" to have, that will see returnees Seth Anderson, Matthew Janzen, Curran Chan, Austin Spicer, Deklen Vergara, and Owen Giesbrecht all compete for starting reps with no incoming outsides slated to join the roster at time of writing. The most veteran returnee Seth Anderson likely has the pole position coming out of the offseason of taking over Duncan Petrie's right side spot in the starting lineup, but look for at least one of Austin Spicer, Owen Giesbrecht, and/or one of the incoming versatile middles in Kenai Warkentin and Nicolas Leflar as additional options as an opposite hitter. Anderson is an athletic leaper with the ability to hit over blocks, while Spicer's height is enticing as someone who could potientially matchup against the opposition's top left side swingers. Giesbrecht has a maturity and versatility well beyond his years, and has every hit in the toolbox at his disposal. Curran Chan and Matthew Janzen are the likeliest starting duo on left side assuming Janzen has completed his return to play protocols after missing nearly all the second half of last season with a lower body injury. Deklen Vergara showed flashes of brillicance when inserted into the lineulp last season and possesses the height, athleticism, and technical ability sought after in any consistent left side attacker.
With a vacant spot at middle up for grabs, expect returning starter Max Anderson to hold down one of the starting middle roles, while the most veteran middle on the roster Adrian Deer could be in contention for the other starting spot especially after playing internationally in New Zealand over the summer alongside Giesbrecht at the All Nations tournament. Now with a year in the program under their belts, Lucas Robertson and Nicolas Leflar could certainly factor in regularly in the rotation, and don't count out incoming middle Kenai Warkentin to challenge for the second middle spot. Their defensive counterparts will be Jackson Pichurski and incoming signee Nolin Gallagher this season. Both will be looking to fill the hole left by fifth year starter Luke Janzen, and it's very possible a tanden situation may be used throughout the season.
With not a lot of certainty in the starting lineup, Blazers head coach Jack Tyrrell is ensuring this year's edition of the roster will be motivated to come into training camp in game shape and ready to battle for starting minutes and roster spots.
The defending champions Providence Pilots will be the season-opening favourites to start in the CCAA national rankings; however, significant turnover in their starting lineup may open the door for someone else to challenge for that spot, though we've seen in the past head coach Paul Arbmbruster's ability to rotate in new talent and keep the machine humming. After significant strides the last couple seasons under head coach Dan Ashfield, look for the Assiniboine Cougars to be a problem for competition across the conference again this season, despite losing their All-Canadian left side to the ACAA. They have arguably made the most impactful signings of the off-season of any program in the MCAC. Even St Boniface, who have missed out on playoffs since the change to a three-team championships format was introduced, were not pushovers last year, and the margins for victory appear to be getting even closer again this season. The biggest wildcard of the bunch will be the incoming Red River Rebels, who will add even more competition into simply making the playoffs. A huge student population means the team could be instantly competitive, but time will tell whether they can draw the talent needed to compete with the best in the conference.
