SPARTANS HOLD OFF WOLFPACK TO REMAIN PERFECT

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans are still unbeaten after a 3-1 victory over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack Saturday afternoon at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops, B.C. the 25-20, 25-17, 21-25, 25-21 victory improves TWU to 12-0, while the loss drops TRU to 6-9. The Spartans are now 21-0 this season against Canada West competition, including preseason play.

Brodie Hofer with 17 kills and one service ace, Jackson Howe with eight kills, three blocks and one ace, and Jesse Elser with seven kills and six digs led the Spartans. Hofer had an impressive attacking performance hitting .538, with only three errors finishing at 17-3-26.

For the WolfPack it was Sam Flowerday with nine kills, Anton Napolitano with eight kills and five digs, and Samuel Elgert with eight kills, seven digs and two aces leading the way.

It was not a pretty night for the Spartans as they committed 25 service errors, but the No. 1 team found a way to earn the four set victory.

AS IT HAPPENED
In a similar start to Friday’s match the Spartans and WolfPack were evenly matched through most of the set. TWU led TRU 8-7 early and 16-14 at the technical break. Out of the break TWU was able to build a three point lead, 19-16, but TRU cut the margin back to one point trailing 21-20. From there it was all TWU as the Spartans took the final four points to win the opening set 25-20. TWU hit at .241 (13-6-29), while TRU hit at .250 (8-3-20). The Spartans had three aces with seven service errors, while the WolfPack had one ace and four errors.

Thompson Rivers had a good start to the second set as the home team quickly jumped out to a 10-6 lead. The WolfPack maintained a three point lead to 13-10, but prior to the media break the Spartans would go on a 6-1 run to take a two point 16-14 lead. TWU continued their run and expanded their lead to five points, 20-15, before take the second set 25-17. The Spartans hit .231 (5-2-13), while the WolfPack hit at .000 (7-7-17) in the second set. TWU’s serving improved in the second set as TWU had four aces and four errors, while TRU struggled with three aces and nine errors.

The WolfPack had an even better start to the third set taking the first four points. TRU kept the momentum and pushed their lead to an impressive nine points, leading 16-7 at the break. The Spartans used an 11- 6 run to cut the WolfPack’s lead to four points, trailing 22-18. But the Spartans were unable to fully close the gap as TRU took the third set 25-21. TWU hit at .391 (12-3-23), while TRU hit an impressive .500 (14-2-24). TWU failed to get an ace in the set and had four errors from the end line, while TRU had three aces and five errors.

The fourth set was even to start with TWU leading 8-7 in the early stages. The Spartans looked to be in control of the set when they took a three point, 16-13 lead into the technical break. But the WolfPack gained momentum out of the break and used an 8-5 run to tie the match at 21-21. But that was as close as the WolfPack would get to the upset as the Spartans took the final four points to claim the set 25-21 and the match 3-1. TWU had their best attacking set of the match hitting at .577 (16-1-26), while TRU dropped to .208 (4-9-24). The Spartans again struggled from the end line with one ace and 10 errors, while the WolfPack had zero aces and three errors.

NOTABLE

• The Spartans have not lost in conference play since a 3-0 loss to the WolfPack in the final match of the 2019-20 season.
• Since the start of the 2016-17 season TWU is an impressive 73-9 in Canada West conference play. TWU has currently won 32-2 run over the last two seasons.
• The Spartans finished the night hitting .374 (16-12-91), while the WolfPack finished hitting .259 (38-16-85). TWU had eight aces and 25 service errors, while TRU had seven aces and 21 errors.

QUOTABLE
TWU Assistant Coach Adam Schriemer
“Credit to TRU they made us earn the win today. They made it really difficult for us, but we’re happy to be coming home with two wins this weekend as it is super hard to beat a good team two night’s in a row.”

“They put a lot of pressure on us and we struggled to find our serve today. Their serving was much tougher today then yesterday. So it took us time to adjust, but we were still pretty efficient offensively which was nice. In the third set we had a laps and came out flat and TRU made us pay for that and we took a long time to get our competitive edge back. But we were able gather it in the fourth set and close it out.”

UP NEXT
The Spartans will head back to the Fraser Valley for a home and home series with the Fraser Valley Cascades. TWU will be at UFV on Thursday, February 17 for a 6 p.m. match and then head back to Langley for their final home match of the regular season on Friday, February 18. Match time at the Langley Events Centre is set for 8 p.m. Both matches can be seen live on Canadawest.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 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.

-TW-