LANGLEY, B.C. – The No.4-ranked Trinity Western men’s volleyball team lost 3-1 (25-22, 26-28, 26-24, 25-20) to visiting UBC Okanagan Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.
After splitting the first two sets, the Spartans were up 24-21 in the third set only to give up five straight points and allow the Heat to steal the set. From there, the visitors seized momentum, building a 12-5 lead in the fourth on route to the win. TWU never got back closer than four points.
The loss drops TWU to 5-3, while the win improves UBCO to 4-2.
Seba Manuel led the Heat with 12 kills, while James Helfrick had 10 blocks.
TWU hit .223 as a team while UBCO hit .250. The Heat had a 6-3 edge in aces and an 13-10 advantage in blocks.
QUOTABLE Adam Schriemer, TWU Head Coach
“I just think the difference tonight is that when you have chances to put away teams, you have to take advantage of that. Even in the second set, we put ourselves in a really good position and then just got really scared and we didn’t execute when we needed to. We saw that in the first set and the third set and once we felt pressure because we were down 2-1, the wheels fell off. But I understand why we couldn’t have a competitive feel because our base fundamentals and game plan execution were off. When you’re not executing a couple game plan tactics and you’re not executing fundamental skills, it’s going to be hard to have a good feel. Outside of Jackson and Kaden, I don’t think there was anything we did really well today.”
UP NEXT
TWU goes on the road for their final weekend of the fall semester when they travel to play Thompson Rivers in Kamloops, B.C. Nov. 22-23.
NOTABLE
· After opening the season with a weekend sweep of MacEwan, the Spartans have split each of their last three weekends with Brandon, UBC and UBCO.
· The setback marked just the second-ever loss against UBCO in Canada West play. The only other loss against the Heat was Feb. 25, 2022.
· TWU is 45-5 all-time against the Heat, including regular season and preseason.
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 women’s and men’s disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in CIS sports. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.