KAMLOOPS, British Columbia – The No. 6 Trinity Western Spartans used a strong defence to earn a 3-0 win over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack Friday night at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops, B.C. The 25-23, 25-16, 25-21 win improves the Spartans to 6-3, while the loss drops the WolfPack to 2-5.
The Spartans had the edge at the net, out blocking the WolfPack 6-3.5 and keeping the ball off the floor with a 27-17 edge in digs.
Second-year outside Piers de Greeff (Victoria, B.C.) with 14 kills, six digs, two aces, and two blocks, and third-year John Obi (Winnipeg, Man.) with 14 kills, four digs, two blocks, and one ace led the Spartans. Rylan Ibbetson with eight kills, five digs, and one block, and Dylan Annala with eight kills, three digs, and one block led the WolfPack.
Fourth-year setter Anselm Rein (Erfurt, Germany) finished with 24 set assists running the Spartans offence, while the WolfPacks Walker Sodaro finished with 23 set assists for Thompson Rivers.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will finish the weekend series with the WolfPack tomorrow at 3 p.m. (PT) at the Tournament Capital. The match can be seen live on Canada West TV.
QUOTABLE TWU head coach Adam Schriemer
“Going into a match a theme you always want to have as a team is to be consistent. And I think that’s sometimes hard to quantify or hard to measure, but I think we saw that today. Just how stable we were in every phase, but mainly with our serving and highball. Canada West is a make-or-miss highball league, and I thought we were great in the terminal serve areas today. When Thompson Rivers was aggressive with their serving, we broke a couple of times, but, in general, we played really good, and really good job at highball.
I thought that was Pierce’s best game and highball he’s ever played. I thought Kaden Schmidt (outside, Mississauga, Ont.) had a sneaky good game. He had a lot of hidden stats that were awesome. And Anselm was back in our starting lineup today, which was good to see. ?So we’re happy to have him back. In general, a consistent match that we’re pleased with, but a quick turnaround for us tomorrow so we have to rest up and be sharp for our last game of the semester.”
NOTABLE
The Spartans finished the night hitting .351 (38-11-77), while the WolfPack hit at .238 (34-14-84).
TWU finished with six blocks, while TRU finished with 3.5.
The WolfPack had six service aces, while the Spartans had four aces.
Last weekend the Spartans split with the UBC Okanagan Heat, winning 3-1 on Friday and losing 3-1 on Saturday at home in Langley, B.C.
Last week the WolfPack were swept by the Fraser Valley Cascades, 3-1, and 3-1 on the road in Abbotsford, B.C.
TWU is currently 72-14 lifetime against Thompson Rivers. The Spartans’ last loss in conference play to the WolfPack was 3-0 on February 15, 2020 in Langley, B.C.
The Spartans are currently on a 14-match winning streak against the WolfPack.
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.
About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in U SPORTS. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.