SPARTANS GET PAST BISONS TO OPEN WEEKEND

WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Led by rookie outside Piers de Greef’s (Victoria, B.C.) 12 kills, seven digs, and five blocks, and fourth-year outside Henry Rempel’s (Swift Current, Sask.) 11 kills, and four service aces the No. 8 Trinity Western Spartans defeated the Manitoba Bisons 3-1 Friday night in Winnipeg, Man. The 27-25, 25-21, 15-25, and 25-23 win improve the Spartans to 7-6, while the loss drops the Bisons to 10-5.

Spencer Grahame with 14 kills, and Kai Boyko and Jordon Heppner with six kills each led the Bisons. TWU third-year setter Anselm Rein (Erfurt, Germany) led the Spartans offence with 33 set assists, while Sammy Ludwig led the Bisons with 38 set assists, to go with a game-high 13 digs.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
Manitoba burst out to a 4-0 lead in the first, thanks in part to middle Jonah Dueck, who got his mitts all over a Spartans attack to give his side the four point lead. On the other side, Spartans setter Anselm Rein, second in the conference with 10.10 assists per set, brought TWU back.
 
He was balanced in his delivery, dishing out six assists to five different players early on as the score was kept within one for most of the set.
 
Grahame, who had six kills and only one error, was lethal with his cross court shot from the left during the first, while Piers de Greeff (led Spartans with 12 kills) had six kills for TWU, who had set point at 24-23, but the Herd kept battling.
 
A Jordon Hepper solo block, one of two for last year’s U SPORTS Rookie of the Year, tied it at 24, but an error put the Spartans back on match point. Grahame kept the set alive, completing a give-and-go with setter Sammy Ludwig (who had 38 assists), but another error, and a Cory Schoenherr block on a line shot from Kai Boyko ended things.
 
Rempel and Schoenherr both blasted aces early in the second for the Spartans, but attack errors kept Manitoba in it. The visitors had 12 attack errors midway through the second, while Boyko – who had six kills – and Ludwig got in on the kill count. A Dueck ace, followed by a Heppner solo block (assisted by a diving dig from Ludwig) gave the Bisons the lead, but attack errors proved costly for the home side.
 
Manitoba had 32 errors in the game, as the Spartans clawed back into the lead, finishing off set two with another Schoenherr block to win 25-21.
 
The Bisons dominated the third set, winning by ten. Nicoles Carter came in on the right side and was an immediate difference-maker, smashing the set-ending kill cross court on an off-balance angle while also registering an assist, dig, solo and assisted block.
 
Up by as much as six at 16-10, Manitoba pushed back, taking a 21-20 lead off of a TWU error., Grahame also smashed a  kill off a double block during the run. Four errors in the next five points put TWU on match point, and shortly after, Rempel ended the game with a kill.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Adam Schriemer
“It was an interesting game. Both teams brought strong defence to the game, but at the same time both teams were incredibly inefficient on offence. One because of great blocking, but also because of unforced errors. The offensive struggles and the low kill numbers made it a very weird game, which made it really hard to score. Both teams were really good with serving reception and defensively. But it was the ups and down’s offensively that made it really hard.”
 
“The challenge for us is, can we playing cleaner tomorrow against a team that is going to be really motivated to win because they weren’t too happy with their performance tonight.”
 
NOTABLE

• TWU finished the night hitting at .111 (41-27-126), while Manitoba finished at .085 (42-32-118)
• The Spartans had 15 team blocks, while the Bisons had 13.
• Manitoba finished with a 44-33 advantage in digs.
• Last week Trinity Western split with the No. 6 Mount Royal Cougars, losing 3-0 on Friday night, and winning 3-2 on Saturday night at home in Langley, B.C.
• Last week Manitoba swept the MacEwan Griffins 3-1 on Friday, and 3-0 on Saturday in Edmonton, Alta.
• The Spartans are 30-21 lifetime against the Bisons.
• TWU last lost to Manitoba, 3-0, on January 23, 2016, on the road in Winnipeg, Man.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Bisons will finish the two-game series tomorrow night in Winnipeg. The match is set for 5 p.m. (CT) start, 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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