LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 8 Trinity Western Spartans (16-8) were dominant in their opening 3-0 win over the Brandon Bobcats in game one of the best of three quarter final series Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B,C. The Spartans 25-17, 25-17, 25-16 victory puts Trinity Western one win away from advancing to the Canada West semifinals next weekend.
TWU’s offence was impressive at .371 (37-11-70) as was their defence holding Brandon to -.016 (16-17-62).
Fourth-year outside Henry Rempel (Swift Current, Sask.) with 11 kills at .412, six digs, and two blocks, and Piers De Greeff (Victoria, B.C.) with eight kills at .353, nine digs, four aces, and two blocks led the Spartans. Philipp Lauter with six kills, and three blocks led the Bobcats.
Third-year setter Anselm Rein (Erfurt, Germany) ran an efficient TWU offence finishing with 29 set assists, three aces, and two blocks. While J.J. Love finished the night with 15 set assist for the Bobcats.
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans were dominant from start to finish. Brandon had their best attacking set of the match in the opening set hitting at .100 (6-4-20) as did TWU at .400 (14-4-25). As the Spartans took the opening set 25-17.
The second set was a repeat of the opening set with TWU winning again 25-17 while hitting almost .300 points higher then Brandon. TWU finished at .381 (11-3-21), while Brandon hit at .095 (7-5-21).
Trinity Western was impressive in the final set hitting over .500 points higher than Brandon. The Spartans hit at .333 (12-4-24), while the Bobcats hit at -.238 (3-8-21).
QUOTABLE TWU Head Coach Adam Schriemer
“I thought most things clicked tonight and Anselm was dialed in offensively and we were able to hold our side out rhythm. As the game went on we were able to just really clamp down on our blocking, which put us in a good spot. We had them hit negative, put them under a lot of pressure, and have good transition at the same time. Our serve was great throughout the whole night, and we are pretty happy that we got a clean one with our serve. I think our mindset was good too, we talked about staying in the moment and trusting our training because we earned a spot to be here in the play-offs. And I thought our guys played free tonight.” NOTABLE
No. 7 TWU finished Canada West conference play at 16-8 to finish third in Canada West, while Brandon finished at 7-15 to place sixth.
Last week the Spartans swept with the Calgary Dinos at the Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary, Alta. TWU won 3-0 on Friday night and won 3-1 on Saturday.
Last week Brandon split with the UBC Thunderbirds wining 3-2 on Friday night and losing 3-2 on Saturday night at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver, B.C.
The Spartans are 32-16 lifetime against the Bobcats.
The last time the Spartans and Bobcats met in the post-season was February 23-24, 2023 at the Langley Events Centre. TWU defeated Brandon 2-0 in the best of three series winning 3-1, and 3-0. In the Canada West quarter finals.
Their last meeting was January 19-20 at the Langley Events Centre. The Spartans and Bobcats split the series. TWU won 3-1 on Friday and lost 3-2 in the Saturday match.
This is the fifth straight year that TWU and Brandon have met in the post season.
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Bobcats will be back at the Langley Events Centre Friday night for game two of the best of three series. The game set for 7 p.m. (PT) and 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.