LANGLEY, British Columbia– The No. 4 Trinity Western Spartans needed five sets to defeat the No. 8 Calgary Dinos 3-2 in the opening match of the Canada West semifinal Thursday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The 25-22, 20-25, 25-14, 23-25, 15-7 win gives TWU a 1-0 lead in the best of three series.
Brodie Hofer (Langley, B.C.) with 25 kills, four digs, and two aces, Jesse Elser (Calgary) with 17 kills, six digs, and five aces, and Henry Rempel (Swift Current, Sask.) with 15 kills, and six digs led the Spartans. While Erik Godwin with 14 kills, two aces, and three digs, Lincoln Baines (Calgary) with 12 kills, and five blocks, Louis Kunstmann (Bad Soden, Ger.) with 11 kills, and four digs, and Liam Kuppe (Calgary) with 10 kills and three blocks led the Dinos. TWU’s Mathias Elser (Calgary) finished the night with 53 set assists, seven digs, and four blocks for the Spartans. While Calgary’s Zack Durrant (Calgary) finished with 39 assists, nine digs, and two aces for the Dinos.
AS IT HAPPENED
The opening set was even until the later points of the game. With the two teams tied at 18-18, TWU was able to get separation on back-to-back kills from Rempel and Jesse Elser to lead 20-18. Calgary closed to one point, trailing 23-22, but the Spartans were able to close out the set 25-22 to take 1-0 lead in the match. TWU finished the opening set hitting .353 (17-5-34), while Calgary finished hitting at .269 (12-5-26).
TWU carried the momentum into the second set and quickly jumped out to a six-point lead, 13-7. However, Calgary gathered momentum in the middle part of the set and outscored TWU 13-5 to take a 20-18 lead heading into the final stages of the set. The Spartans were unable to hold off the Dinos as Godwin finished the set with a service ace to give Calgary the set 25-20 and even up the match at 1-1. In the second set TWU hit at .345 (13-3-29), while Calgary hit at .433 (15-2-30).
The Spartans dominated the third set. TWU quickly jumped out to a 7-3 lead, then expanded it to seven points, 16-9. Before they closed out the set with a 9-5 run to take the set 25-14 and a 2-1 lead in the match. The Spartans hit at an impressive .550 (13-2-20) in the set, while the Dinos hit at .034 (9-8-29).
The fourth set was even throughout. Calgary led 16-15 midway through the set, but were unable to create separation from TWU. Then with the teams tied at 20-20, the Dinos got the separation they needed to go up 22-20 after a Godwin kill. TWU could not get back to even as the Dinos took the fourth set, 25-23, to even the match at 2-2. In the fourth, the Spartans’ attack fell off hitting at .296 (13-5-27), while the Dinos found their attack improve to .391 (12-3-23).
TWU got the early lead in the short fifth set and had a solid 8-5 lead at the changeover. The Spartans never looked back from their as Jesse Elser finished of the match with an ace to give TWU the 15-7 fifth set win. TWU’s attack was dominating in the final set hitting at .727 (8-0-11), while Calgary hit at .062 (4-3-16).
QUOTABLE Adam Schriemer – TWU Co-Interim Head Coach
“Our inconsistency in the serve-pass game made it very exhausting emotionally. At times we served well, and at times we didn’t pass well, so that made it hard to get rhythm. I thought Jesse Elser had an incredible match in all phases. When things weren’t going well he was our glue guy – that was one of his best performances I’ve seen in a long time. That uncomfortable feeling of playoff volleyball is something we need to be able to deal with. You’ll never feel in rhythm, and tonight was a perfect example of that. This type of volleyball is what we need to get comfortable with.”
Rod Durrant – Calgary Head Coach
“We’re really happy in the way we came out. Obviously we battled, but [TWU] showed that they had a different level they could get to in the fifth set, and we couldn’t match it tonight. We had a good team plan and strategy. The team battled well together.
“We’ve always said we wanted to be the best team in March. It was a process at the start of the season, but we’re playing our best volleyball now, and that was our plan from the beginning. We’re happy with where we’re at.”
NOTABLE
• The Spartans are 51-28 lifetime, and 37-23 in conference play against the Dinos.
• Trinity Western has not lost to Calgary, 3-1, since February 26, 2016, in the Canada West quarter-final. A 16-match winning streak. TWU would go on to win the Canada West and U SPORTS titles that year.
• TWU finished the night hitting at .405 (64-15-121), while Calgary finished at .250 (52-21-124).
• The Spartans also had the edge in service aces 9-6 with both teams finishing with nine total blocks.
• Trinity Western advanced to the semi-final with a 2-0 series win over Brandon, while Calgary advanced with a 2-0 series win over Mount Royal.
• TWU finished the season No. 3 in CW at 18-6, while Calgary finished No. 7 at 12-12.
UP NEXT
The Spartans and the Dinos will play game two of the best-of-three series tomorrow night at the Langley Events Centre. Game time is set for 8:30 p.m. and can be seen live on CanadaWest.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 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
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