SPARTANS STRONG IN SWEEP OF CASCADES

ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia– Led by Brodie Hofer (Langley, B.C.), with 10 kills, the Trinity Western Spartans made quick work of the Fraser Valley Cascades in a 3-0 win Saturday night at the UFV Athletic Centre in Abbotsford, B.C. The 25-23, 25-21, 25-13 win keeps TWU perfect at 4-0, while the loss drops UFV to 1-3.
 
In addition to Hofer, TWU had strong performances from Cory Schoenherr (Waterloo, Ont.) with eight kills and six blocks and Henry Rempel (Swift Current, Sask.) with seven kills and three blocks. Nimo Benne with nine kills and Caleb Kastelein with six kills and Tyson Ardell with six kills led the Cascades.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
TWU and UFV were even through the first set. Tied at 13-13 to 23-23. But, back-to-back kills by Hofer gave the Spartans the first set 25-23. TWU hit .276 (14-6-29) in the first set, while UFV hit at .222 (12-6-27).
 
The second set was equally close with the two teams tied at 21-21. Again, TWU took control late as the Spartans took four straight points on the back of Hofer’s serving, which was punctuated with a service ace for the final point in a 25-21 win. The Spartans hit at .389 (9-2-18), while the Cascades hit at .154 (11-7-26) to take a 2-0 set lead.
 
The Spartans were dominating in the final set. TWU led 13-7 when Mathias Elser (Calgary, Alta.) served seven straight times to give the Spartans a 19-7 lead. From there TWU cruised to the 25-13 third set win. The Spartans hit an amazing .769 (10-0-13) in the final set, while the Cascades hit at -.188 (4-7-16).
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Adam Schriemer
” Proud of the guys for getting two wins on the road against a good team. The biggest thing that helped us today was winning terminal serving, that was an area we struggled with yesterday. By winning that today we were able to create separation.
 
When playing against a good team and trying to beat them two nights in a row on the road, we talk a lot about being tough and being able to grind. And I thought we did that for the first set and ¾. Then from 21-21 in the second set we were able to play very clean and efficient and close out the match.”
 
NOTABLE
• The Spartans finished the night hitting .417 (33-8-60), while the Cascades finished hitting .101 (27-20-69).
• Trinity Western is now lifetime 7-0 against Fraser Valley
• The Spartans had a 9-4 edge in total blocks and a 10-5 edge in service aces.
• Mathias Elser led the Spartans with 31 set assists, while Jonas Van Huizen led the Cascades with 23 set assists.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will return home to the Langley Events Centre for a weekend series against the Calgary Dinos November 4 and 5. Match time is set for 8 p.m. on Friday and 7 p.m. on Saturday. Both matches can be seen live on CanadaWest.TV.
 
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women’s and men’s soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women’s rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men’s rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
 
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