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LANGLEY, British Columbia – Led by second-year setter Anselm Rein’s (Erfurt, Germany) eight service aces the No. 8 Trinity Western Spartans (16-8, 3-0) rallied to defeat the No. 9 Winnipeg Wesmen (15-9, 2-2) 3-1 in the opening match of the Canada West best-of-three semi-finals Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B,C. The Spartans’ 22-25, 26-24, 25-18, 25-17 win puts Trinity Western one win away from advancing to the Canada West championship and an automatic berth in the U SPORTS championship.
Rein’s eight service aces are one off the TWU and Canada West record for service aces in a play-off match. Former Spartan Josh Howatson ’07 holds the record of nine, which he set in a 3-1 win over the Wesmen on February 18, 2005, in the Canada West Quarter Final.
Rein also led the Spartans with 33 assists, while adding three blocks. Alex Krykewich led the Wesmen with 25 assists.
Fourth-year outside Henry Rempel (Swift Current, Sask.) with 11 kills, four digs, and one block, second-year outside Kaden Schmidt (Mississauga, Ont.) with 10 kills, two aces, and two digs, and third-year Aaron Elser (Calgary, Alta.) who came off of the bench finished with seven kills, four blocks, and one ace in three sets to lead the Spartans. Isaiah Olfert with 12 kills, two aces, and one block, Liam Kristjanson with eight kills, five blocks, and one ace, and Jaxon Rose with seven kills, four digs, and four blocks led the Wesmen.
AS IT HAPPENED
The Wesmen and Spartans were evenly matched in the early part of the opening set with TWU and Winnipeg tied at 13-13. From there the Wesmen used a solid block to take a three-point lead, 19-16, and put the Spartans into a timeout. TWU came out of the break to tie the set at 20-20. But Winnipeg once again took three straight to lead 23-20. The Spartans cut the lead to one point, 23-22. But the Wesmen would not let the Spartans get closer as a Spartans attack error and a kill by Winnipeg’s Rose finished the set 25-22 for the Wesmen. The Spartans struggled hitting only -.111 (6-8-18), while the Wesmen hit at .368 (12-5-19). Winnipeg was dominant at the net finishing with five team blocks to TWU’s zero. TWU had a 3-1 edge in service aces.
Winnipeg carried the first set momentum into the second set as Winnipeg went on a 10-2 run to take a 13-5 lead. The teams exchanged points to 16-7 lead for the Wesmen. TWU’s Rein went on a serving run, including three straight aces, to cut the lead to three points,17-14. Winnipeg took the next three points to get their lead back to six points, 20-14. TWU again cut the lead to four points, 21-17 after an Aaron Elser kill. The teams continued to go back and forth with Winnipeg up 23-19. TWU’s Schmidt’s serving got TWU back into the set with three straight Spartan points, to make it a one-point, 23-22, game and put Winnipeg into a timeout. TWU’s third-year middle Cory Schoenherr (Waterloo, Ont.) tied the set at 23-23 with a middle attack after the break. Winnipeg’s Kristjanson got the Wesmen to set point, 24-23, with his middle kill. Then Elser tied the set at 24-24 after a deep kill. A block of Krykewich by Aaron Elser and third-year middle Corneil Jackson (Surrey, B.C.), gave TWU set point at 25-24 as the Wesmen took another timeout. The Spartans finished off the set with Corneil and Anselm blocking the Wesmen’s Nigel Nielsen to give TWU the set 26-24, and even the match at 1-1. TWU dramatically improved their hitting to .333 (16-6-30), while Winnipeg hit at .350 (10-3-20). Winnipeg still had the edge in blocks 4-2, while TWU retained the edge in aces 4-3.
The Spartans were the better team to start the third set. A serving run by Schmidt gave TWU an early 13-6 lead. The Wesmen’s responded and used a 7-2 run to cut the Spartans lead to two points, 15-13. The Spartans again regained their control and after Schoenherr blocked Kristjanson TWU had built their lead to five points, 20-15. The two teams sided out to 23-18. It was as close as Winnipeg would get in the set as two kills by Rempel around a Wesmen attack error closed out the set 25-18 for TWU and gave the Spartans a 2-1 set lead. TWU hit at .250 (10-4-24), while Winnipeg had their worst set of the night hitting at . 074 (8-6-27). TWU regained control at the net with a 3.5-1.5 edge in team blocks and had the advantage from the end line 4-1.
The fourth set was even early with TWU leading 8-7. From there the Spartans took over and after another Rein ace, TWU had extended their lead to five points, 14-9, and forced Winnipeg into a timeout. The two teams played side-out ball to 17-13 for TWU. Schmidt then went to the end line and put the game away giving TWU an eight-point, 21-13, lead. The Wesmen were unable to close the gap as the match ended fittingly with a service ace by the Spartans Aaron Elser. TWU hit at .333 (9-3-18), while Winnipeg hit at .000 (8-8-21). The Spartans block continued to get better with a 6-2 edge in the fourth set. TWU also had a 4-1 edge in service aces.
QUOTABLE TWU Head Coach Adam Schriemer
“Winnipeg put us under a lot of pressure. It was a hard game to build rhythm at the start because Winnipeg served really aggressively and we didn’t handle their serves well and then they also missed a lot. We didn’t have a lot of opportunities to earn points and we couldn’t find any rhythm and that carried on into the second set. I thought Oog (Elser) was huge coming off the bench. He really handled their float serves well and he was really efficient and clean in high ball. Then, the difference was Anselm’s run and Kaden’s run. We were finally able to match their serve pressure. We were able to slow them down, outside of Olfert. Then when they did pass well, we got some good touches on their middles and that was the difference in how we were able to create some gaps in the point-scoring phase.
“Going into tomorrow, we need to slow down Olfert a little more. We need to continue to handle their float serves and we have to engage in longer rallies. We need to be tougher from the start of the game.”
NOTABLE
Players of the Match: WPG Olfert, TWU Rein.
The Spartans finished the night hitting at .222 (41-21-90), while the Wesmen finished at .184 (38-22-87).
Winnipeg finished with a 12.5-11.5 edge in blocking, while TWU had a 15-6 edge in service aces.
The 15 team aces ties the second most in a post-season match for the Spartans. Only trailing the TWU record of 18 set in a 3-1 win over Brandon on February 29, 2020.
Last week the Spartans swept the Brandon Bobcats in the best of three series, winning 3-0 on Thursday and 3-1 on Friday at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.
In their quarter-final series Winnipeg had to go the distance in upsetting the No. 3, second-place, Mount Royal Cougars this past weekend in Calgary, Alta. The Wesmen won 3-1 on Friday night, lost 3-2 on Saturday night, and took the series 3-0 on Sunday afternoon.
In their last conference weekend series, October 27-28, the Wesmen swept the Spartans 3-1, and 3-2 in Winnipeg. Before that weekend series, the Spartans had won 13 straight against the Wesmen.
The Spartans are 44-20 lifetime against the Wesmen.
TWU is 33-3 at home against Winnipeg. The Spartans’ last loss at home to the Wesmen was 3-0, 14 years ago, on February 26, 2010.
TWU last met Winnipeg in the postseason six years ago in the Canada West semi-finals on March 1-2, 2018. The Spartans swept the best-of-three series 2-0 (3-0, 3-0).
The Spartans are led by Canada West all-stars fourth-year outside Henry Rempel (Swift Current, Sask.) and second-year setter Anselm Rein (Erfurt, Germany). Rempel finished the season leading Canada West in kills-per-set (4.23), second in total kills (398), and fifth in aces-per-set (0.41). Rein was the top setter in the conference, leading Canada West in assists-per-set (10.29), and was also the leader in service aces-per-set (0.59).
The Wesmen are led by Canada West all-star, and former Spartan, fourth-year left-side Isaiah Olfert. Olfert was second in service aces per set and total (44/0.48), fifth in Canada West in hitting percentage (.296), and sixth in kills-per-set (3.62).
Rempel is the Canada West and U SPORTS male volleyball athlete of the week.
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Wesmen will match up again tomorrow night in game two of the best-of-three series. Match time at the Langley Events Centre is set for 8 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.