HAMILTON – Brendan Mills, Matthew Rugosi, Sam Cooper, Ben Kerkhoff and Mateusz Wlodarski represented the maroon and grey this summer through their participation in Volleyball Canada national team programs.
 
On the indoor court, Mills and Rugosi were members of the 2023 Team Canada Men's Volleyball U21 Program. The purpose of the program was to identify, select and train a group of young athletes at a high-performance level and offer them the opportunity to represent Canada in international competitions. The two Marauders competed at the U21 NORCECA Volleyball Championship in Cuba together. Mills was also named to the final roster for the FIVB U21 World Championship in Bahrain.
 
Outside hitter Brendan Mills had a solid second season with McMaster this past year. He played in 43 sets over 15 matches, recorded nine service aces and averaged a .229 hitting percentage. As a member of Volleyball Canada's U21 Program, the London local represented the nation for the second time in his volleyball career.
 
Matthew Rugosi made his national team debut this summer in Cuba with the U21 team. He recorded 105 digs over 19 matches during the 2022-23 OUA regular season, in just his second year of eligibility.
 
A veteran standout for the Marauders, Sam Cooper spent most of his summer with the Senior National Team. The Hamilton local played in matches against Slovenia and the Netherlands. He then earned a spot in the starting lineup for Canada in a match against Poland during the Volleyball Nations League (VNL) tournament in Pasay City, Philippines. Cooper was a standout in the match and was the game's leading scorer, totaling 15 kills on 31 attacks while also contributing three service aces.
 
The silver medalists from last year's inaugural Volleyball Canada University/College Beach National Championships, Kerkhoff and Wlodarski teamed up this season for Team Canada's Beach Volleyball Summer NextGen Program. The program, which selects 12 athletes per gender to form the Beach National Summer Team, provides full-time training from May to August at Ashbridges Bay Park in Toronto. Participants also competes locally in the Ontario Volleyball Association Beach Tour as well as tournaments across Canada, including the Calgary Stampede Open and the Vancouver Open.
 
Ben Kerkhoff, a libero entering his fourth year of eligibility, was named an OUA Second Team All-Star this past season. He averaged 0.88 digs per set throughout the regular season. Kerkhoff, a London, Ont. local, has extensive beach experience including four years with the Team Ontario Beach Provincial Team and was also a member of Team Canada at the 2019 U21 Beach World Championships in Thailand.
 
A recent graduate of the McMaster men's volleyball program, Mateusz Wlodarski was named a U SPORTS Second Team All-Canadian, the winner of the OUA Dale Iwanoczko Award of Merit and an OUA First Team All-Star in his final season with the team. He averaged 2.27 kills per set and recorded 21 solo blocks during the 2022-23 OUA regular season. A veteran outside hitter, the Ottawa local was a member of the Canadian Beach Volleyball National Team during the summer of 2022.
 
"We are so proud of Brendan, Matthew, Sam, Ben and Mateusz who have embraced the challenge of representing our program on the national stage," said men's volleyball head coach, Brad Douwes. "It's great to see each of them bring the same level of passion and determination to their national team programs as they do every day in Burridge."
 
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