LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 4 Trinity Western Spartans had a slow start, dropping the opening set, 25-17, but recovered to take the next three sets and a 3-1 win over the UBC Okanagan Heat Friday night at the Langley Events Centre – Building B in Langley, B.C. The 17-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-15 win improves the Spartans to 5-2, while the loss drops the Heat to 3-2.
Third-year Kayden Schmidt (Mississauga, Ont.) with 11 kills and 10 digs, second-year outside Piers de Greeff (Victoria, B.C.) with 12 kills, seven blocks, and six digs, and fourth-year middle Jackson Corneil with eight kills, and eight blocks led the Spartans. While Seba Manuel with 12 kills, three digs, and two blocks, and Ashton South with seven kills, and four blocks led the Heat.
Fourth-year setter Ben Pike (Abbotsford, B.C.) finished with 38 set assists running the Spartans offence, while the Heats Zach Van Geel finished with 23 set assists for UBC Okanagan.
UP NEXT
The Spartans finish the two-match series with the UBC Okanagan Heat tomorrow evening in Building B at the Langley Events Centre. The match time is 6 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
QUOTABLE TWU head coach Adam Schriemer
“First off, UBCO made some really good plays at the start, and that maybe made our guys feel like we had to do a little bit more offensively, and that maybe led to a lot of the unforced errors. I thought the biggest thing was we just have to play a little bit cleaner in the second set.”
“I thought Kayden had a great night for us, and Jackson, outside of his serving, tonight was really, really sharp. His start in the second set with a quick kill and two quick blocks, really set the tone for the rest of the game. So a really frustrating start, especially with making, as many unforced errors as we did, but the way they turned it around was great, so equally frustrated and happy with the bad start and they could finish.”
AS IT HAPPENED
The Heat were dominating in the opening set. UBC Okanagan quickly jumped out to an 8-4 lead. UBC O built their lead to 19-11 and were not letting TWU back into the set as they took the opening set 25-17 to lead 1-0. TWU hit at -.067 (7-9-30), while UBCO hit at .280 (9-2-25).
The Spartans were a different team in the second set as TWU took the first six points of the set to lead 6-0. The Heat closed the deficit slightly midway through the set, trailing by four points, 14-10. TWU expanded their lead to 21-15 before taking the second set 25-18 to even the match at 1-1. TWU improved to .286 (11-5-21), while UBC O hit at .043 (6-5-23).
TWU looked to be in control of the third set with a five-point, 14-9, lead midway through the set. But UBC Okanagan responded with a 8-3 run to tie the set at 17-17. From there it was side-out play till 22-22, when the Spartans took the final three points to take the set 25-22 and a 2-1 set lead. TWU hit at .560 (16-2-25), while UBC O hit at .269 (11-4-26).
The final set belonged to the Spartans as TWU jumped out to a 12-6 lead and never looked back. The Spartans expanded their lead to nine points, 19-10, before taking the set 25-15, and the match 3-1. TWU hit at .391 (11-2-23), while UBC O hit at .000 (8-8-33).
NOTABLE
The Spartans finished the night hitting .280 (46-18-100), while the Heat hit at .139 (34-19-108).
TWU finished with 12 blocks, while UBC Okanagan finished with six.
The Heat had three service aces, while the Spartans had four aces.
Last weekend the Spartans split with the No. 7 Thunderbirds in a home-and-home series, winning 3-0 at the LEC, and losing 3-1 at War Memorial in Vancouver, B.C.
Last week the Heat split with the Thompson Rivers WolfPack winning 3-1, and losing 3-1 in Kamloops, B.C.
TWU is currently 45-4 lifetime against UBC-O. TWU’s last loss to UBC Okanagan in conference play was 3-0 on February 25, 2022, in Kelowna, B.C.
The Spartans have never lost to the Heat at home in conference play.
The Spartans are currently on a nine-match winning streak against the Heat.
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.
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 U 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.