SPARTANS GET WEEKEND SWEEP OF BISONS

WINNIPEG, Manitoba – Led by fourth-year outside Henry Rempel (Swift Current, Sask.) with 12 kills, two service aces, four digs, and three blocks the No. 8 Trinity Western Spartans defeated the Manitoba Bisons 3-0 to complete a weekend sweep Saturday night in Winnipeg, Man. The convincing 25-19, 25-23, 25-17 win improves the Spartans to 8-6, while the loss drops the Bisons to 10-6.

In addition to Remple TWU had strong games from third-year middle Jackson Corneil (Surrey, B.C.) with eight kills, and four blocks, and second-year outside Kaden Schmidt (Mississauga, Ont.) with eight kills, and four digs. Spencer Grahame, and Kai Boyko with six kills each led the Bisons.

TWU third-year setter Anselm Rein (Erfurt, Germany) led the Spartans’ offence with 31 set assists while adding six digs, five aces, and three blocks. Sammy Ludwig led the Bisons with 16 set assists, to go with eight digs and two blocks.

AS IT HAPPENED
A back-and-forth first set was broken open by the Spartans, who, leading 16-14, scored six of the next eight points, closing out the first with a seven-point win. There were seven ties, but TWU never trailed.
 
A day after recording seven aces, TWU opened strong again, with four in the first set, including three from setter Rein, who also had a kill, nine assists, a dig, and an assisted block. Rein’s third ace made it 20-15 as the visitors applied consistent pressure at the back line, much like yesterday.
 
The second set featured four lead changes, and a combined 13 assisted blocks, nine from the Bisons, who held a 19-16 lead thanks to a Sammy Ludwig ace and Ens and Nicoles Carter double block, but the hosts couldn’t close things out.
 
Three attack errors, a Piers de Greeff ace, and a line shot kill from leading attacker Henry Rempel gave the visitors a 23-22 lead, and they won by two thanks to a Kaden Schmidt roll shot.
 
Rein had 23 assists after two, while Bisons’ libero Josh Jehle had a game-high nine digs. His pancake dig which led to a Ludwig dish to Boyko for the kill thrilled the fans. Boyko, the first-year sensation, completed the play with an impressive cross-court kill over the double block from the left that brushed the back line.
 
Service pressure was again the story in the third. The Spartan’s most powerful hitter and best server Rempel had two aces, while Rein added another two as TWU held a six-point lead throughout the set.
 
Bisons setter Alex Witt subbed in during the third, and his service pressure led to an over bump kill from Jordon Heppner, TWU’s transition game proved lethal, with Piers de Greeff ending the match in system.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Adam Schriemer
“Pretty pleased with our response today. Yesterday we talked about how we were clean in the serve and serve receive phase along with our block defence. But had a lot of cleaning up to do offensively. I don’t know that we were great offensively tonight, but we were much cleaner than yesterday. And that is why the result was the way it was tonight.”
 
“Happy with our mindset and how we were able to stay clean, especially as the game went on. And happy with the sweep on the road. Manitoba is loaded with junior national team kids, so it is a big deal to beat a team as talented as they are.”
 
NOTABLE

• TWU finished the night hitting at .230 (36-16-87), while Manitoba finished at .062 (26-21-81)
• The Spartans had eight team blocks, while the Bisons had 10.
• TWU finished with a 10-2 service ace advantage.
• Both teams had 28 digs.
• Last night the Spartans won 3-1 over the Bisons. The weekend sweep is the first since TWU swept UBC Okanagan November 3-4 in Langley, B.C.
• The Spartans are 31-21 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 will now return home to host the Bradon Bobcats on Friday, January 19, and Saturday, January 20. Match times are set for 7 p.m. (PT) and 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.
 
-TW-