Heslinga leads impressive all-phase effort as Bears rebound with 3-1 victory against TWU

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

EDMONTON – Third-year outside hitter Isaac Heslinga had a game-high 17 kills to lead the Alberta Golden Bears to a 3-1 (17-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-19) victory over the Trinity Western Spartans Saturday evening at the Saville Centre.

He hit .316 on a night where the Alberta (5-3) offence was in its groove, out-hitting the visitors .253 to .185. He was flanked by a good performance from fifth-year Grayden Wiebe who had eight kills and four total blocks.

The Spartans were paced by rookie Piers De Greeff who finished with a team-high 12 kills and added three blocks. The visitors struggled to contain errors in the contest, making eight reception errors to Alberta’s three as well as adding 21 and 20 attacking and service errors respectively.

They got off to a good start on the back of phenomenal net defence, blocking four total Bears attacks for points and holding the hosts to just a .083 hitting percentage. They would take the first frame 25-17.

From the second set on, however, it would be mostly Alberta impressing as they swept sets 2-4. Heslinga got seven kills in the second set to recapture the momentum, then four different Bears got multiple kills in the third to display a deep offensive attack. In the last frame, they showed stout defence against the Spartans holding them to a -.160 hitting percentage helped undoubtedly by four blocks from the front line. With the 25-19 fourth set victory, the Bears took the match and a leg-up in the early conference standings.

The Bears return to action next Friday hosting the conference-leading Winnipeg Wesmen, while the Spartans get a week off before returning home to face the Saskatchewan Huskies.