2025/26 Men's Volleyball Roster Preview
Last year's team made a historic run at the CCAA Men's Volleyball Nationals
Although it may just seem like summer is around the corner, Blazers Men's Volleyball has been on a recruiting hot streak filling their roster for the 2025/26 season. After a historic run at the 2025 CCAA Men's Volleyball Nationals, new head coach Jack Tyrrell will have his work cut out for him in topping the 2024/25 team's success on the national level, but there's a lot that needs to happen between now and next March that will determine how this year's team performs.
Blazers Athletics opens its 2025/26 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 David Nelson, Felix Stetefeld, and Joel Heppner at their final regular season match of the 2024/25 campaign. Nelson, a starting setter and captain of the squad will surely be missed for his leadership, athleticism, and no-quit attitude that made him a noted back-court asset on the team. Stetefeld broke into the starting lineup in his senior year, and the towering middle's size and game smarts will be hard to immediately replace. Heppner served as the team's academic captain, and was the ultimate team player, a former winner of the MCAC True Sport Award.
Also leaving CMU are two Blazers Rookie of the Year nominees, Levi Johnston and Michael Hwang. Starting left-side Levi Johnston is off to the University of New Brunswick Reds to see if his dynamic attacking skills can be applied to the USports level, while starting libero Michael Hwang is also on his way out after a fantastic debut at the collegiate level that had him standout at the CCAA tournament.
Incoming Recruits
Filling those holes in the lineup are a number of new recruits and additions to the squad including signees Nicolas Leflar, Owen Giesbrecht, Leiland Parenteau, Lucas Robertson, Deklen Vergara, as well as Jackson Pichurski, who will be eligible to join the roster this year.
Nicolas Leflar | 6'4" Middle | Morris School | Bisons Club
Leflar was an early addition for the upcoming season and is expected to be a talented attacker down the road for the program. The MHSAA Graduating All-Star has the size and versatility to play middle, right side, or even as a backup setter, which bodes bodes well for his future with the team.
Coach's Quote: "Nicolas is an experienced club player who will most likely fit with us in the middle, but has the versatility to slot in on the right side as well. We are excited to have him join our group as his hard working and team first mentality will fit in well with our team. With time in our program we feel he will be a good player in the MCAC."
Owen Giesbrecht | 6'4" Left Side | Lord Selkirk Regional | Bisons Club
Expect Giesbrecht to push for one of the starting positions on left side this season as his length and accomplishments at the high school and club level make him a college-ready recruit, much like Johnston last year. Giesbrecht is a multi-sport talent, and also featured on the 2024 Canada Cup team with former Blazers Michael Hwang and Levi Johnston, as well as incoming teammate Lucas Robertson.
Coach's Quote: "At 6'4" and playing left side, Owen will bring top notch attacking skills on the outside to our program. I believe he will be an impact player in a short period of time, and has the academic and leadership tools to contribute to the team's success for a long time. We are excited to see what he will bring to the college level."
Lucas Robertson | 6'5" Middle | Transcona Collegiate | Bisons Club
Like Giesbrecht, expect Lucas Robertson to push for a starting position, but at the middle. His size and athleticism have seen him develop a well-rounded game where he has slotted in at all attacking positions, but will likely factor primarily in the middle for the Blazers, as he does in club where he has seen his greatest volleyball successes.
Coach's Quote: Lucas is an extremely good all-around athlete who will bring additional versatility to the roster being able to play both middle and right side. I expect him to be a very good college player and we are more than happy to have him on board."
Leiland Parenteau | 6'0" Setter | Niagara College | 204 Club
The Blazers are bringing another local talent back to Manitoba as Dakota Collegiate alumni Leiland Parenteau returns to his home province to fill in the setter spot vacated by graduate David Nelson. With some college experience already under his belt, as well as chemistry with a number of last year's recruits including Adrian Deer, Austin Spicer, and Max Anderson, expect Parenteau to share some of setting load with returning setter and captain Ryan Bilous.
Coach's Quote: Originally from Manitoba, Leiland is a CCAA transfer from Niagara, and brings with him a year of college ball experience to join our new setter duo. His location as a setter is excellent, and his back row play and quickness will be an asset to the team. A top notch character player who will fit in well with our team culture."
Deklen Vergara | 6'3" Left Side | Vincent Massey Collegiate | 204 Club
The Blazers' final signing of the off-season, Deklen Vergara adds more athleticism and decent size to CMU's roster of outsides. Vergara was a part of the 2023 AAAA Provincial Championship Trojans squad that went 49-0 that season, and adds plenty more success at the high school level, so expect him to bring a competitive winning-attitude to the team.
Coach's Quote: "I had the pleasure of meeting Deklen on Team Manitoba this past summer and instantly saw the potential in his game. He comes from a successful high school program at VMCI and I am excited to watch him develop into an impactful collegiate athlete in the coming years."
Returning to the Roster
The Blazers Men's Volleyball program has sustained a fairly deep and talented roster over its last few seasons, which sees many of its student-athletes complete their college careers with the program. Key returnees to the lineup this season include captain and 2024/25 All-Conference selection Duncan Petrie, who is expected to take a majority of the right side reps in crunch time during the season. The leading right side attacker from the MCAC this past season has seen a steady rise in his play throughout his career and will certainly want to end his final year with a bang. 2023/24 All-Conference selection Markus Martens will also be back as the Blazers' number one middle this season. The quiet but efficient front-row athlete has led the league on numerous occasions in several statistical categories. Ryan Bilous is back for a third year, and now without his tandem partner David Nelson, will be expected to shoulder major starting reps throughout the season. The lengthy setter is a blocking nightmare for the opposition, and with more minutes expected this year, the team is hoping he has an even bigger impact.
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, and Alex Murphy all compete for starting reps with incoming left sides Owen Giesbrecht and Deklen Vergara. A good start to last season had Seth Anderson routinely in the starting seven to begin the year, but a hand injury over the Christmas break had him shut down for the remainder of the season. The 6'3" leaper could certainly make his mark with the team again if he can regain his form. Third year Matthew Janzen will begin his second year with CMU after starting his career with College of the Rockies. The 6'3" left side was the most consistent left side for the team down the stretch last season and would be an expected starter on day one if he comes into the season in top form. Sophomores Curran Chan and Austin Spicer are both looking to increase their mark on the team this year. Chan saw significant reps as a rookie left side, but the undersized bouncy attacker may also see time in the Blazers' backcourt as a libero this season. Austin Spicer played most of last season behind captain Duncan Petrie on right side, but has been taking passing reps to be a dual-threat right side or left side option this coming season. The lengthy but athletic outside showed flashes of brilliance in training and in games last year. Finally, the team conditioning guru, Alex Murphy, is intent on getting more starts this season, and will be training hard all summer in the gym and on the beach courts of BC looking to increase his playing time this year.
With a vacant spot at middle up for grabs, expect returning sophomores Max Anderson and Adrian Deer to be in competition with incoming Lucas Robertson for coveted playing minutes. Like his brother, Max Anderson brings a wealth of athleticism and talent that needs to be harnessed for him to regularly crack the starting lineup. Adrian Deer showed immense improvement throughout last season, and displays a game-sense and scrappiness in his play that can help make up for his smaller size. Their defensive counterparts will be Luke Janzen and Jackson Pichurski this season. Both will be looking to fill the hole left by outgoing Michael Hwang who earned the starting spot as a rookie. Veteran Luke Janzen will look to continue to hone his skills as he gets a chance for regular starting reps, while Pichurski, who trained with the team all last season is working with the Calgary Dinos this off-season in hopes of earning his spot in the starting lineup.
With not a lot of certainty in the starting lineup, Blazers head coach Jack Tyrrell hopes his new roster will be motivated to come into training camp in game shape and ready to battle for starting minutes and roster spots. If there's one thing for certain, it's that the team will be hungry to return to the top of the MCAC and CCAA rankings come season's start.
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