WINNIPEG – Trinity Western dropped the first two sets against Winnipeg and were unable to find a way back, as the visiting Spartans lost 3-1 (25-16, 25-20, 19-25, 25-18) Friday at the Duckworth Centre.
The Spartans Henry Rempel (Swift Current, Sask.) had a dominant showing on the right side, collecting 22 kills while hitting .526 and nabbing three aces, but it wasn’t enough as the Spartans were bested by a Wesmen side that hit .465 as a team. The Spartans were held to a .301 team attacking efficiency.
The Wesmen offered up a balanced attack, with Liam Kristjanson earning 12 kills, while Nigel Nielsen and Isaiah Olfert had 10 kills each.
Winnipeg had their block set up all night, earning 10 blocks while the Spartans had just one team block. The Wesmen also had an 8-5 edge in aces.
Winnipeg is now 2-1 on the season, while the Spartans are 1-2.
AS IT HAPPENED
The court was tilted Winnipeg’s way from the jump, with the Wesmen taking the set by nine points after hitting .538 in the opening set while holding TWU to a .056 hitting percentage.
The second set was a different story. Both teams found their offensive groove, as they each hit above .500. However, the Spartans had nine serving errors to the Wesmen’s five and the home won the set by five.
TWU pushed the offence in the third set, collecting 14 kills for the second set in a row and managed to take the set by six.
However, the final set was all Winnipeg. The Wesmen didn’t commit a single attacking error while hitting .500. TWU couldn’t overcome their six attacking errors and the home team wrapped up the night in four.
QUOTABLE Adam Schriemer – TWU Head Coach
“I think the biggest lesson that keeps being revealed to us this season is that if you’re not ready to play in Canada West and you spot teams sets, that hill is going to be too steep to climb. I thought the only highlight tonight for us was Henry Rempel. He had one of the better matches of his career, but we need to play better team volleyball if we’re going to have success.”
NOTABLE
• The loss snaps the Spartans 13-match winning streak against Winnipeg.
• The loss also marks just the third time that TWU has dropped a match against Winnipeg since 2010.
• TWU is 43-19 all-time against Winnipeg.
UP NEXT
The rematch is Saturday at 5 p.m. (CDT) at the Duckworth 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 and women’s and men’s disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 33 Canada West team championships.
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