MVB: Dominant Dogs with Four Set Victory Against Trinity Western

LANGLEY, BC – The No. 5 Saskatchewan Huskies visited the No. 6 Trinity Western Spartans to a 3-1 loss on Friday night at the Langley Events Centre. It was a tough match between the two nationally ranked teams, but the Huskies prevailed in four sets (14-25, 28-26, 28-26, 25-22). 

THE HIGHLIGHTS

• The Spartans came out strong to start the match and dominated the opening set. TWU led 17-7 before closing out the set 25-14 to take a 1-0 lead.
• Saskatchewan countered in the second set and took a 10-5 lead to start. TWU eventually battled to tie the match at 17-17 and from there it was side-out ball, with each team looking for control. The set had to go to extra points before the Huskies tied the match at 1-1 with a 28-26 win.
• The third set saw Saskatchewan try to pull away from TWU, but each time they got a four-point lead, the Spartans would scramble back to tie the game. This continued until TWU tied SSK 24-24. Down the stretch, the Huskies had three set points, and the Spartans had one before Saskatchewan took the third set in extra points 28-26 and a 2-1 set lead.
• The final set was similar at the start, but midway through the set the Huskies took a commanding 16-10 lead. Again, the Spartans clawed their way back to trail by two points, 23-21, but they were unable to get even as the Huskies closed out the match with a 25-22 fourth-set win.

THE STATISTICS

• Trinity Western’s Henry Rempel had 17 kills, eight digs, and one ace on the night. Kaden Schmidt had 14 kills, eight digs, and four blocks, with Piers de Greeff adding 10 kills for the Spartans. 
• Emmett Graham led the Huskies with 17 kills, and Isaiah Mamer had an impressive game with 14 kills, five blocks, and eight digs for the Dogs.
• The Huskies had the edge in hitting percentage, hitting at .183 (47-23-131) with the Spartans finishing the night hitting at .178 (52-28-135).
• TWU had a 7-2 edge in service aces, while Saskatchewan had an 11-8 edge in blocks. With both teams had 48 digs.

THE EXTRAS
“I think the biggest takeaway from tonight is just how hard Saskatchewan was to play against in every phase. They did a really good job of extending rallies and as the rally went on, we just got way to terminal. I thought we were pretty clean for the most part other than our offence. You can’t have 28 attack errors in four sets and win in Canada West – never mind against a team as good as Saskatchewan. If we’re that terminal, we’re going to lose.” TWU Head Coach Adam Schriemer
 
THE STANDINGS
The Saskatchewan Huskies continue to thrive in Canada West with a 6-3 record. The loss drops the Spartans to 4-5 in the regular season. 

UP NEXT
The Spartans and Huskies will finish off the weekend series on Saturday evening at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, BC. First serve is scheduled for 8:00 PM and can be seen live on CanadaWest.TV.