MALIBU, Calif. – Trinity Western opened their seven-match California road trip with a 3-2 (25-18, 25-17, 22-25, 30-32, 15-9) win over Pepperdine University Wednesday.
Playing a Pepperdine side that was ranked #5 in the country at the end of the 2021 season, the Spartans earned a fifth-set win after the Waves had battled back from a two-set deficit to force the tiebreaker. TWU is now 4-4 all-time against Pepperdine.
The Spartans will now prepare to play in the SAC Tournament at UCLA Nov. 12-13 when they will take on UC Santa Barbara, USC and UCLA.
QUOTABLE
TWU Coach Ben Josephson
“We had a 15-9 lead in the fourth set and Pepperdine showed huge heart. Their servers caught fire and I think that’s a great lesson that no great team will ever go down quietly. We saw this great push back from those guys in the fourth set. It was super inspiring to see them play like that when their backs were against the wall.
“However, it was equally inspiring the way our group rallied after losing that set. Having been up 2-0, it’s easy to lose a lot of heart heading into the last one, but I felt like our ability to play that well in the fifth showed our group’s toughness. All in all, it was two very proud programs with great athletes going at it and showing the heart and level that has made these programs amongst the best programs in their respective countries.
“Our big rocks are about being gritty and being competitive and being tough and I think we showed all three of those things tonight. We have to get better at volleyball, but when we play tough like that, we’re a fun team to watch.”
SCHEDULE
Nov. 10 vs. Pepperdine – 3-2 W
SAC Tournament
Nov. 12 vs. UCSB – 7 p.m. (PT)
Nov. 13 vs. USC – 11:30 a.m. (PT)
Nov. 13 vs. UCLA – 4:30 p.m. (PT)
Nov. 14 vs. Pepperdine – 7 p.m. (PT)
Nov. 15 vs. Long Beach State – 6 p.m. (PT)
Nov. 16 vs. Long Beach State – 6 p.m. (PT)
TWU’S ALL-TIME RECORD vs. NCAA DIV. I OPPONENTS
BYU – 2-2
Cal State Northridge – 1-1
George Mason – 0-1
Lewis – 2-2
Long Beach State – 3-1
Pacific – 3-1
Pepperdine – 4-4
Purdue Fort Wayne – 2-0
Stanford – 0-1
UC Irvine – 0-1
UCLA – 4-2
UC Santa Barbara – 1-2
USC – 2-1
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 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.
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