KAMLOOPS, British Columbia – Fourth-year outside Henry Rempel (Swift Current, Sask.) was again dominant for Trinity Western as he finished with 16 kills, 10 digs, three blocks, and two aces to lead the No. 9 Spartans to a 3-1 victory over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack Friday afternoon and the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops, B.C. The 25-15, 18-25, 25-17, 25-17 win improves the Spartans to 11-7, while the loss drops the WolfPack to 9-9.
Second-year outside (Mississauga, Ont.) with 11 kills, five digs, two blocks, and two aces, and third-year middle (Surrey, B.C.) and first-year outside Piers De Greeff (Victoria, B.C.) with six kills each also had strong games for the Spartans. Sam Flowerday with nine kills, four digs, and three aces, and Matthew Hamilton with nine kills, two blocks and three digs led the WolfPack.
TWU third-year setter Anselm Rein (Erfurt, Germany) led the Spartan offence with 40 set assists to go with seven blocks, while Sam Elgert finished with 20 assists for the WolfPack.
AS IT HAPPENED
The two teams were even to start, with TWU holding an 8-7 lead. But then the Spartans gained separation with a 7-3 run to take a 15-10 lead after a Rempel kill. The Spartans continued to roll as the set progressed and after three straight points led 21-13. TWU’s Rein closed out the opening set with an ace to give the Spartans a 25-15 opening set win. TWU hit at .435 (12-2-23), while TRU hit at .150 (8-5-20).
The second set was even till 16-14 for the WolfPack. From there TRU used a 7-2 run to take a 23-16 lead late into the set. TWU gained two points, before a service error closed out the set for the WolfPack 25-18, tying the match at 1-1. In the second the Spartans struggled hitting .190 (9-5-21), while the WolfPack hit at .400 (10-2-20).
The Spartans were in control of the third set from the start as they doubled up the WolfPack 12-6. Four straight points late in the set allowed TRU to cut the deficit to three points, trailing 16-13. But from there the Spartans regained control with a kill by Rempel and a Rempel, Corneil block of Sam Flowerday finished off the set 25-17 to give TWU a 2-1 set lead. TWU regained their attack in the third hitting at .385 (14-4-26), while TRU dropped to .030 (7-6-33).
TWU carried the momentum into the fourth set and quickly took a five-point, 9-4 lead after a Schmidt service ace. The Spartans maintained control as the set progressed leading 19-14 after another Rempel kill. TWU continued to double up the TRU as the set and match ended with Cory Schoenherr (third-year, middle, Waterloo, Ont.) hitting off the block to give TWU a 25-17, 3-1 victory. TWU finished the match hitting .400 (10-2-20) in the final set, while TRU hit at .130 (9-6-23).
QUOTABLE TWU Head Coach Adam Schriemer
“TRU is such a hard team to play against and they have a great coach. They put a lot of pressure on us in a lot of different ways. I thought that we saw that with the aggressiveness of their float servers, which put a lot of pressure on our guys. I was really happy that we were able to side out at a high clip with all the tough float serves that we faced.”
“Kaden was great tonight. His numbers were huge, him being clean in the high ball phase and hitting at such a high-efficiency rate. Anselm was really dialed in offensively, and two nights in a row Henry was the best player in the gym and that is why we had so much success.”
NOTABLE
TWU finished the night hitting at .356 (45-13-90), while TRU finished at .158 (35-20-95).
The Spartans had a 9-5 edge in service aces and an 11-6 edge in total blocks.
Last night the Spartans defeated the WolfPack 3-1.
The Spartans are 70-14 lifetime against the WolfPack.
TWU last lost in conference play to TRU, 3-0, on February 15, 2020 in Kamloops, B.C.
The Spartans are 26-8 on the road against the WolfPack.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now match up with a home-and-home series with the UBC Thunderbirds. TWU will host UBC on Thursday, February 1 at 7 p.m. (PT) and then travel to UBC for Friday’s 7:45 p.m. (PT) match. Both matches can be seen live on Canada West 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 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
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