BRANDON, Man. – A combined 30 kills from Jesse Elser (Calgary) and Henry Rempel (Swift Current, Sask.) led No. 5-ranked Trinity Western in a 3-1 victory over No. 9-ranked Brandon (25-14, 21-25, 25-22, 25-18) at the Healthy Living Centre on Friday.
Aside from Elser and Rempel putting down 15 kills each, the Spartans (18-5) also got a solid 13-kill, 13-dig performance from Brodie Hofer (Langley, B.C.), which paired with a great night of blocking from Jackson Corneil (Surrey, B.C.), who had the game-high of four. For the Bobcats (), 12-11), it was Tom Friesen who joined Elser and Rempel at 15 kills to share the game-high.
The Spartans had the most efficient night of the two teams, hitting .274 to best Brandon’s sum of .154.
AS IT HAPPENED
The first set was lopsided in TWU’s favour as the Spartans went on to take a 25-14 victory. The Spartans hit the ball exceptionally well in the frame, posting a hitting percentage of .652.
Neither team hit the ball well in the second set, resulting in a gritty second-set victory for the Bobcats (25-21).
The Spartans answered back, taking a 2-1 lead off a tight 25-22 third-set victory. The Bobcats held the edge in team hitting percentage at .333, brushing past TWU’s .292.
The fourth, and final set of the match fell in favour of TWU (25-18), giving the Spartans their 18th victory of the season.
QUOTABLE Adam Schriemer – Co-Interim Head Coach
“Overall, I’m happy with the performance. We had a really good start, and we were really clean in all of our phases. The concerning part was our spiking in the second set – we had too many errors. Brandon does a really good job in extending rallies, and making you earn your points, so I thought we were too terminal in situations where we didn’t have the advantage to earn a kill. If we can clean that up for tomorrow we’ll be fine offensively.
“Brandon is a tough team, and it isn’t easy getting wins in their house. It’s always a big deal being at Brandon, so it’ll be a challenge tomorrow. Still, I’m happy with the team’s performance tonight.”
NOTABLE
The Spartans are 27-15 all-time against Brandon, winning nine of their last 10 matches in the matchup.
TWU’s last loss to Brandon took place on Feb. 28, 2020.
Friday’s tally of 13 digs now stands as a career high for Hofer. His previous career-high of 10 was set on Dec. 2, 2021 against UFV.
UP NEXT The Spartans rematch Brandon at the Healthy Living Centre on Saturday (6:45 p.m. CT). Catch all of the action 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 and varsity disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.