NO. 6 SPARTANS BEAT THOMPSON RIVERS IN FOUR

Box Score KAMLOOPS, B.C. – No. 6-ranked Trinity Western completed a weekend sweep of Thompson Rivers with a 3-1 (15-25, 27-25, 25-19, 25-14) win Saturday afternoon at the Tournament Capital Centre.
 
A day after earning a three-set win over the WolfPack, the Spartans bounced back from dropping the opening set, winning with decisive victories in the third and fourth sets.
 
The wins sees the Spartans cap the fall semester with a weekend sweep and a 7-3 record in conference play. TRU falls to 2-6.
 
Kaden Schmidt led the Spartans offence with 14 kills and six blocks while hitting .545 (14-2-22), while Jackson Corneil had seven kills to go with seven blocks while hitting .700 (7-0-10). Piers de Greeff had six kills and three aces. Setter Anselm Rein had 27 assists in helping TWU hit .314 as a team.
 
Dylan Annala led TRU with 12 kills, while Mason Sodaro had nine kills and Matthew Hamilton and Sam Flowerday had six kills each. Walker Sodaro had 37 assistsa and a match-high 12 digs. TRU hit .194 as a team.
 
After sweeping MacEwan to open the season, TWU split each of their next three weekends, with Brandon, UBC and UBC Okanagan, before sweeping TRU to round out the fall semester.

QUOTABLE
Adam Schriemer, TWU Head Coach
“One of the things we’ve always made note of this semester is that winning in the Canada West is tough and winning on the road is tough and winning against TRU is tough and then winning the last match of the semester is tough. So, I’m really proud of our guys that we were able to find our competitive edge in this match to get it done. It was an interesting game as far as the phases in how they changed. I thought there were moments where we were great in high ball moments and where we were good in reception and there moments where we were finding our serve. But I thought the two things that were elite tonight were Jackson Corneil and Kaden Schmidt’s play. I thought that was the best Jackson has ever blocked and then he was able to hit ,.700 with the best blocking night. And I just thought Kaden was spectacular in every phase. Those are arguably our two best players this semester and it was good to see them carry us to the victory today.”

UP NEXT
The Spartans are next in action when they travel to California, where they will play four matches in six days, from Dec. 30 to Jan. 4, against UCLA, UC San Diego, Pepperdine and Long Beach. The Spartans will return to Canada West action Jan. 10-11 when they travel to play the University of Manitoba.
 
NOTABLE
·       The Spartans have now won 15 consecutive games against TRU.
·       The last time TRU beat TWU was Feb. 15, 2020 in Kamloops.
·       TWU is 73-14 all-time against Thompson Rivers.
 
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 and women’s and men’s disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in CIS sports. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others. 
 
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