LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western was given a good scare by Fraser Valley on Friday night, squeaking by with a 3-2 victory (25-19, 14-25, 25-23, 19-25, 12-15) at the Langley Events Centre.
The Spartans (6-0) were unable to find rhythm against an inspired UFV (0-6) team who rode an emotionally charged wave to nearly defeat TWU on their home court.
Brodie Hofer (Langley, B.C.) has been on a tear this season, continuing to do so against the Cascades in Friday’s victory. Hofer scored a game-high of 35 points while swinging well to average 5.8 kills per set. Hofer also took home a game-high in aces, posting six of TWU’s 10 throughout the match.
UFV rode impressive performances from Nimo Benne, Jonas Van Huizen, and Reece Wilson. Wilson, the team’s primary libero, played an outstanding match out of UFV’s backcourt as it seemed as if every ball hit remotely near him found a way to stay off the court. Benne and Van Huizen were constantly combining for well-worked attacks throughout the duration of the game.
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans were caught on their heels early by an inspired UFV side riding on a strong first set from second-year outside Nimo Benne. The left-side attacker attacked well, and efficiently, converting five of six attacks attempted throughout the first set. As a whole, UFV’s efficiency at the net was where they made their mark, putting down 52 percent of their kills. On the other hand, the Spartans struggled mightily in the first set, committing a total of 11 errors on the set.
The second set was an entirely different game as the Spartans came out with a completely different brand of energy. Isaiah Olfert (Winnipeg) was the primary target for the Spartans on the offensive end, converting all five of the chances he saw into kills. As a result, the Spartans cruised, winning the most convincing set of the night 25-14.
Although the second set seemed to have doused the energy brought on by the Cascades, the road side answered back with even more energy, trading blows with the Spartans throughout the entire third set. With neither team fully establishing control, it was the Cascades who came through under pressure, winning the third set 25-23. This had put the Spartans at a set disadvantage for the first time in Canada West play in 2021-22.
With the Spartans being forced to dig in their heels, UFV still carried a significant amount of momentum into the fourth to apply pressure on the ailing Spartans. Still, TWU was able to force a fifth set, winning 25-19.
The final set saw various teams show flashes of taking the victory. UFV got touches on nearly every ball while the Spartans were able to put some of their finest offensive strategies to the test. With UFV taking an 8-7 lead to head into the break, the Spartans clamped down defensively, giving Nimo Benne few options down the stretch. With their defensive efforts leading to beautiful plays, the Spartans were able to put away the Cascades 15-12.
NOTABLE
The Spartans now move to an all-time record of 3-0 over the Cascades.
Mount Royal are the only other Canadian opponent who have taken the Spartans to five sets this season. TWU narrowly defeated MRU at the FOG Classic on Oct. 1st.
QUOTABLE TWU Head Coach Ben Josephson
“When rivalries happen, you throw records out. That’s exactly what happened. We had a big-time game at the end of semester as both teams are working on different stuff, so this is the pinnacle of the semester.
“UFV played such a good match. I told their coaches that there was no moment where we could stomp on them, it never felt like they were vulnerable for long. We could get a point or two, but they would crawl back. They didn’t let us get comfortable besides one serving run in the second set, but every other time we tried to impose ourselves they had an answer. Credit to them for how tough and resilient they were, it was impressive.
“Volleyball is volleyball, so we have to be emotional about the match tonight, then remove the emotion from the match. Tomorrow, the job is to watch the video and get back to work. That’s the way we have to go about it until the last match whether we win the tournament or not. We can get emotional about our season once the last point has been played, but for now we need to continue getting better.
“There is no such thing as should in sports, so we couldn’t carry the mindset of us winning that game because we should have. They came and played big-boy Canada West volleyball. This will be an amazing rivalry throughout the years.”
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.