EDMONTON, Alberta – The No. 6 Trinity Western Spartans battled their own errors and a tough No. 5 Saskatchewan Huskies team in a 3-2 loss Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The 14-25, 28-26, 28-26, 25-22 loss drops the Spartans to 4-5, while the win improves the Huskies to 6-3 in Canada West play.
Fourth-year outside Henry Rempel (Swift Current, Sask.) with 17 kills, eight digs, and one ace, second-year outside Kaden Schmidt (Mississauga, Ont.) with 14 kills, eight digs, and four blocks, and first-year outside Piers de Greeff (Victoria, B.C.) with 10 kills led the Spartans. Emmett Graham with 17 kills, and Isaiah Mamer with 14 kills, five blocks, and eight digs led the Huskies. TWU third-year setter Anselm Rein (Erfurt, Germany) finished the night with 40 assists, while Saskatchewan’s Noah Opseth finished with 39.
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans came out strong to start the match and dominated the opening set. TWU led 17-7 before closing out the set 25-14 to take a 1-0 lead.
The Huskies countered in the second set and took a 10-5 lead to start. TWU eventually battled to tie the match at 17-17 and from there it was side-out ball, with each team looking for control. The set had to go to extra points before the Huskies tied the match at 1-1 with a 28-26 win.
The third set saw Saskatchewan try to pull away from TWU, but each time they got a four-point lead the Spartans would scramble back to tie the game. This continued until TWU tied SASK 24-24. Down the stretch, the Huskies had three set points, and the Spartans had one before Saskatchewan took the third set in extra points 28-26 to take a 2-1 set lead.
The final set was similar at the start, but midway through the set the Huskies took a commanding 16-10 lead. Again the Spartans clawed their way back to trail by two points, 23-21, but they were unable to get even as the Huskies closed out the match with a 25-22 fourth-set win.
QUOTABLE TWU Head Coach Adam Schriemer
“I think the biggest takeaway from tonight is just how hard Saskatchewan was to play against in every phase. They did a really good job of extending rallies and as the rally went on, we just got way to terminal. I thought we were pretty clean for the most part other than our offence. You can’t have 28 attack errors in four sets and win in Canada West – never mind against a team as good as Saskatchewan. If we’re that terminal, we’re going to lose.”
NOTABLE
The Spartans finished the night hitting at .178 (52-28-135), while the Huskies finished at .183 (47-23-131).
TWU had a 7-2 edge in service aces, while Saskatchewan had an 11-8 edge in blocks. With both teams having 48 digs.
The Spartans are coming off a bye week as they return to action this week against the Huskies.
Last week the Huskies defeated the UBC Okanagan Heat 3-0 and 3-2 in Kelowna, B.C.
The Spartans are 40-20 lifetime against the Huskies.
In their last meeting the Spartans were swept by the Huskies 3-2 on both nights in Saskatoon, Sask. on January 13-14. The losses snapped a seven-match winning streak by the Spartans.
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Huskies will finish off the weekend series on Saturday evening at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. First serve is scheduled for 6 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.
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