SPARTANS BATTLE TO SWEEP DINOS TO OPEN FINAL WEEKEND

CALGARY, Alberta – Fourth-year outside hitter Henry Rempel (Swift Current, Sask.) was dominant with 20 kills, five digs, three blocks, and three aces to lead the No. 8 Trinity Western Spartans to a 3-0 victory over the Calgary Dinos Friday night at the Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary, Alta. the 25-15, 25-19, 31-29 win improves TWU to 15-8, while the loss drops Calgary to 7-16.

Second-year outside Kaden Schmidt (Mississauga, Ont.) with 11 kills, and three digs, and first-year outside Piers De Greeff (Victoria, B.C.) with 11 kills, four digs, and two blocks also had strong nights for the Spartans. Zach Evans with 13 kills, and four digs, and Louis Kunstmann with nine kills, five digs, three blocks, and one ace led the Dinos.

TWU third-year setter Anselm Rein (Erfurt, Germany) finished with 43 set assists and two aces, while Calgary’s setter Zack Durrant finished with 24 set assists for the Dinos.

AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans quickly took control of the first set, jumping out to 8-4 and 16-11 leads. The Dinos were not able to find their offence in the opening set as TWU took the early 1-0 lead with the 25-15 opening set win. TWU hit at .417 (13-3-24), while Calgary hit at .048 (7-6-21). TWU had a 3-0 edge in service aces.
 
Calgary had a very strong start to the second set and took a solid 9-4 lead. But TWU came back hard with a 9-1 run to take a 13-10 lead. The Spartans kept rolling through the set to take a 2-0 set lead with the 25-19 win. The Spartans hit .333 (12-5-21), while the Dinos hit .238 (8-3-21). TWU had a 4-1 edge in aces.
 
The Dinos had their best set of the night in the third. Calgary was even early and then at the midway point were able to take a three-point, 16-13 lead. The Dinos looked well on their way to sending the match to a fourth set with a 24-20 lead. But five points later and a serving run by Rempel and it was suddenly the Spartans with match point leading 25-24. Calgary tied the set and got another set point at 27-26. However, the Spartans and Rempel were not going to be denied as Rempel’s final kill of the night finished the set 31-29 and the match 3-0 for Trinity Western. Both teams were very efficient in their attacks. TWU finished the final set at .465 (25-5-43), while Calgary only committed one error and finished at .441 (16-1-34).
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Adam Schriemer
“We executed a lot of the game plan and tactics that we were looking for, and I was really pleased with our start. In the second set we weren’t as clean in some little things. In the third set, we struggled to find our flow and Calgary really upped their game. But things really changed when we were down 24-20 and Henry went down to the line. One of the better games of Henry’s career he was so stable for us tonight in every phase and he was the reason we were able to close it late.”
 
“Really pleased with Kyden Dmitruk’s (libero/outside, Surrey, B.C.) reception tonight, thought he was dialed in, and really happy with Piers’ and Kaden’s work on highball too, been working on that a lot lately and they were really clean. Going to be a real challenge tomorrow. Winning at the Jack twice in a row is never easy.”
 
NOTABLE

• TWU finished the night hitting at .420 (50-13-88), while Calgary finished at .276 (31-10-76).
• The Spartans had an 8-3 edge in service aces, while the Dinos led in blocks 7-5.
• TWU finished with 25 digs to Calgary’s 19.
• Last week the Spartans swept the MacEwan Griffins, winning 3-0 on both nights at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.
• Last week Calgary was swept 3-1 both nights by the Winnipeg Wesmen on the road in Winnipeg, Man.
• The Spartans are 53-28 lifetime against the Dinos.
• The last time the Spartans lost to the Dinos was 3-1 on February 26, 2016, in Calgary, Alta.
• TWU has currently won 15 straight conference and play-off matches against Calgary.
• Their last meeting was in last year’s Canada West semi-final, which TWU won 2-0 winning the matches 3-2, and 3-1 at the Langley Events Centre.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Dinos will finish the two-match series tomorrow and the Canada West season tomorrow evening at the Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary, Alta. the match is set for 6 p.m. (MT) 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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