LANGLEY, British Columbia – Using a balanced attack the No. 5 Trinity Western Spartans powered their way through to an impressive 3-0 victory over the No. 6 UBC Thunderbirds Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The 25-22, 25-23, 25-18 win improves the Spartans to 4-1, while the loss drops the Thunderbirds to 2-3.
Second-year outside Piers de Greeff (Victoria, B.C.) with 10 kills, five digs, and two aces, third-year outside John Obi (Winnipeg, Man.) with 10 kills, four blocks, and one ace, and third-year outside Kayden Schmidt (Mississauga, Ont.) with eight kills, and eight digs led the Spartans. While Dawson Pratt with nine kills, and three digs, and Reeve Gingera with nine kills, four digs, and one block led the Thunderbirds.
Fourth-year setter Ben Pike (Abbotsford, B.C.), who made his first Canada West conference start, ran the Spartans attack and finished with 29 set assists, while Mason Greves led the Thunderbirds attack and finished with 35 set assists.
UP NEXT
The Spartans now head to Vancouver, B.C. to finish the home-and-home series with the Thunderbirds. Match time at War Memorial is scheduled for 6 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
QUOTABLE TWU head coach Adam Schriemer
“I was super impressed with Ben Pike. That’s was his first ever Canada West start and for him to lead our offence that efficiently in his first ever Canada West start is really impressive. I thought he had a really good handle on what we wanted to do offensively.”
“I was really happy with our block defence. I thought we put ourselves in positions to make plays, and then followed up by making those plays. We had an idea what we wanted to do, but I thought defensively we converted a lot.”
AS IT HAPPENED
UBC started the opening set well and quickly took a four-point, 6-2, lead. TWU responded with a 14-6 run to take a 16-12 lead midway through the opening set. The Thunderbirds closed the deficit to one point, 17-18, before the Spartans closed out the set 25-22 to take a 1-0 lead. TWU hit at .344 (15-4-32), while UBC hit at .343 (16-4-35).
The second set was tight through most of the set. The teams were even at 9-9, when the Spartans took a three-point lead 16-13 midway through the set. The Thunderbirds tied the set at 22-22, before the Spartans took three of the final four points to take the set 25-23 and a 2-0 set lead. TWU hit .294 (8-3-17), while UBC hit at .308 (13-5-26).
TWU was dominant in the final set as the Spartans quickly jumped out to an 8-3 lead. TWU expanded their lead to six points, 16-10, midway through the set, before closing out the match with a 25-18 win. TWU hit at .500 (11-2-18), while UBC hit at .074 (10-8-27) in the final set.
NOTABLE
The Spartans finished the night hitting .373 (34-9-67) while the Thunderbirds hit at .250 (39-17-88).
TWU finished with seven blocks, while UBC finished with four
UBC had four service aces to TWU’s one.
TWU is coming off a bye weekend, while UBC is coming off a weekend sweep, 3-1, 3-1, over the Brandon Bobcats in Vancouver, B.C.
The Spartans are currently 63-27 lifetime against the Thunderbirds. Last season the Spartans split with the Thunderbirds. Losing 3-2 in Vancouver, B.C. and winning 3-2 in Langley, B.C.
Spartans’ setter Ben Pike is the sun of TWU Spartans coaching legend Ron Pike who coached the Spartans to their first U SPORTS championship in 2005-06 and finished his eight year coaching career (1999-2007) with the Spartans with a record of 135-118.
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.