SPARTANS SERVE THEIR WAY TO SWEEP

LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans remain perfect with an impressive serving display Friday night against the Fraser Valley Cascades. The straight set 25-18, 25-13, 25-17 win improves the Spartans to14-0 in Canada West conference play while the Cascades remain winless at 0-14.The Spartans finished the night with 13 service aces, which ties for the second most service aces in a three set match in TWU history.

Jackson Howe with nine kills, and three aces, Jordan Schnitzer with nine kills and two blocks, and Jesse Elser with eight kills and two aces led the Spartans. While Comrie Engbers with four kills, five digs, and one ace, and Bailey Burdick with four kills and one block led the Cascades.

AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans and Cascades were even early on with the two squads tied at 12-12. TWU was able to take four of the next six points to lead 16-14 at the technical timeout. But as the set wound down the Spartans took control. With TWU leading 19-17 the Spartans were able to outscore the Cascades 6-1 to take the opening set 25-18. TWU finished the first set hitting .409 (13-4-22), while UFV hit at .375 (5-2-8)

Trinity Western was dominating in the second set. The Spartans quickly took an 8-2 lead on their way to a nine point lead, 16-7 at the technical timeout. From their TWU rolled to a comfortable 12 point win, 25-13 to take a 2-0 set lead. TWU improved their efficiency hitting at .556 (12-2-18), while UFV dropped to .000 (7-7-16).

Like the opening set the teams were even early with TWU holding a one point, 12-11, early. But the Spartans increased their margin to four points, 16-12, at the break. UFV was unable to close on TWU as the Spartans earned the straight set victory with a 25-17 set win. TWU hit at .419 (18-5-31), while UFV hit at .095 (6-4-21).

NOTABLE

• The TWU record for aces in a three set match is 17, which was set Jan. 18, 2020 in a 3-0 home win over UBC Okanagan.
• The Spartans defeated the Cascades 3-0 Thursday night 25-11, 25-15, 25-13.
• The TWU is now 5-0 against UFV this season in league and preseason competition.
• The Spartans have never been undefeated in Canada West conference play. The Spartans have two matches left in Canada West conference play. Their best season was in 2011-2012 when they finished 19-1.
• In their 14 wins the Spartans have outscored their opponents 42-9 in sets won.
• TWU finished the night hitting .451 (43-11-71), while UFV hit at .111 (18-13-45).

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ben Josephson
“Senior nights are just so emotionally charged and there is so much going on away from the game that it is very, very hard to play really crisp. That said, we always want to listen to ourselves and control the emotions of the night to perform well and to honour our seniors. And I thought the guys did a good job of that. They showed great energy and poise even though we really struggled with serve in the first set and sloppy play in the other sets.”

“I thought that they really engaged with each other to make sure they enjoyed the night and made the most of the moment. It wasn’t so much about winning or losing or playing better it was about can we really honour these six men with how we treated each other and how we engaged in the match as Spartans and as brothers. A successful senior night, we won, but we played the way we wanted too and that is the most important part, especially on senior night.”

“One weekend left to fine tune and then it’s go time. We’ve been waiting two years to get another play-off run. So I can’t wait to actually get into the fun season.”

UP NEXT
The Spartans will now head to Kelowna, B.C. to take on the UBC Okanagan Heat in the final conference matches of the Canada West season. Match time on Friday, February 25 is set for 8 p.m., with Saturday, February 26 set to start at 6 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.

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