SPARTANS MOVE TO 8-0

LANGLEY, B.C. – The battle of Canadian University men’s volleyball heavyweights once again went to the Trinity Western as the Spartans defeated the visiting University of Alberta Golden Bears 3-1 Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. TWU is now 8-0 in preseason play, while Alberta drops to 4-2, with their two losses going to the Spartans.

Alberta took the first set 25-21, then the Spartans evened the match by taking the second set 25-23. TWU had a big third set winning 25-16 and looked in control of the game. The match looked to be headed to a fifth set with Alberta leading 16-11 in the fourth set, but TWU went on a serving run to take a 21-18 lead before closing out the match with the 25-21 win.

NOTABLE

• The Spartans last meeting against the Golden Bears at the LEC was a 3-0 victory in the 2020 Canada West Championship on March 7, 2020.
• TWU beat Alberta 3-0 at the FOG Classic in Edmonton on Oct. 2 this year.
• The Spartans first played the Golden Bears on October 29, 1999, losing 3-2 at the David Enarson Gym in Langley, BC.
• TWU is currently 32-61 lifetime against Alberta. The Spartans are 13-23 at home vs the Golden Bears.
• TWU head coach Ben Josephson is 26-27 overall and 19-22 in CW and playoffs vs Alberta
• The Spartans and the Golden Bears have met eight times at the U SPORTS national championship (4-4).
• The Spartans and the Golden Bears have met 4 times in U SPORTS gold medal match and 8 times in the Canada West Gold medal match.
• Since 2001-02 TWU or Alberta have played in 17 of 18 national championship finals (TW 10, 10).
• Since 2004-05 TWU or Alberta have won the Canada West Championship 13 times (TW 6, AB 7).
• Over the last 15 national championships TWU or Alberta have won 11 times (TW 7-AB 4).

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ben Josephson
“We talked a few times this week about how deep and high quality this rivalry has been over the years. And tonight was two of the better rosters in the country with really physical athletes banging away. In the first set we had no answer for the spiking their hitters were doing. They were hitting with such discipline and their setter was setting with such speed that we just had no answer.”

“One of the things we say is that if they are going to make those shots all night we will lose. We just have to keep playing for the more common shots, waiting for them to flinch a little bit.”

“Jackson got a couple of blocks to start the second and it just changed a little bit for us. We got more energy and Alberta started second guessing their shots just a little bit and then the game started to swing are way. And then our servers got hot and went on a couple of runs which we were able to sustain into the fourth set. But then the momentum swung back the other way and that is the way volleyball works. Their big guy started getting some really big swings again and that is just how it is when you play the Bears.”
“When you play great teams you need to make sure you stack points when you have the momentum and try and limit the damage when they have momentum. Against Alberta it is just “big boy” volleyball. It’s big guys hitting balls hard and it is hard to stop great players hitting great shots and that is what it was like all night.”

UP NEXT
The Spartans will finish the Blue Team Cup Tournament Saturday evening against the Mount Royal Cougars. Game time is set for 6 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.

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-