In 2011, the Trinity Western Spartans will host the national championships.

And while they are guaranteed a spot at that event, the men’s volleyball team is intent on making it this year as well.

“For us, the experience of being at the national championships and experiencing what it feels like, I think is pretty important,” said coach Ben Josephson.

“Not to say that teams don’t win it the first year they are there, but every little bit of experience helps.

“We really do feel it is important for us to get that experience. But more importantly, we feel it is important to take a step forward as a program, building on last year’s success.”

Last year, the Spartans came up just short of making nationals, losing 2-1 in their best-of-three playoff series against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack. The final match came down a fifth and deciding set.

This year’s squad is very young.

“We don’t have a single fifth-year player left on our team and most likely only one fourth year on the floor,” Josephson said.

“We have a lot of really young talent, but they are still trying to figure out how to play every day and compete at this level.”

The team’s players had a busy summer, as all but one — who could not play anyway because of knee surgery — was on a high profile team.

Seven Spartans represented their various provinces at the Canada Summer Games. Two were at the world indoor championships and one more was at the world beach championships. Another five played in a major U19 tournament.

“That experience allows us to grow up quicker,” Josephson said.

“We get basically a whole extra summer of training, with different athletes, different systems, different coaching.

“I think that is huge overall for their wealth of training.”

It has also created a slow start to the season as the team scaled back the pre-season in order to rest up after a busy summer.

“We are still trying to find our rhythm to be honest,” he said. “But that is just the cost benefit.”

The Spartans begin the Canada West regular season tonight (Friday) when they host the UBC Thunderbirds at the Langley Events Centre.

The Canada West is the toughest conference in all of Canada as the past 15 national champions have all come from this league.

“The grind is what makes teams tough, the teams that focus and are consistent are the ones that are there at the end,” Josephson said. “We are trying to find that consistency.”

The Spartans are not the biggest or most powerful of the teams, but they are speedy.

“We are trying to play really fast,” Josephson said. “Speed is our mantra for the year. We are trying to be faster than our opponents in every facet of the game.”

“Ben will lead a very dynamic offensive system with interchangeable parts,” the coach said.

The middle is another strength, as the team can use Josh Doornenbal, Rudy Verhoeff and Dan Jansen Van Doorn.

The outside attack will rely on Marc Howatson, Paul Lindemulder, Mikiah Schalk and Aaron VandenBrink.

And defensively, Jarrod Offereins and John Wiebe will be counted on.