KAMLOOPS, British Columbia – Fourth-year outside Henry Remple (Swift Current, Sask.) was dominant with 17 kills, hitting at .500, and eight digs, to lead the Trinity Western Spartans to a 3-1 win over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack Thursday night at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops, B.C. The 25-21, 22-25, 25-20, 25-14 win moves the Spartans to 10-7, while the loss drops the WolfPack to 9-8.
Third-year middle Cory Schoenherr (Waterloo, Ont.) with 10 kills, and seven blocks, and first-year outside Piers De Greeff (Victoria, B.C.) with eight kills, and five digs also had strong games for the Spartans. Sam Flowerday with 12 kills, and three digs, and Matthew Hamilton with 10 kills led the WolfPack.
TWU third-year setter Anselm Rein (Erfurt, Gerany) led the Spartan offence with 39 set assists to go with seven blocks, while Sam Elgert finished with 28 assists for the WolfPack.
AS IT HAPPENED
Trinity Western came out strong and quickly jumped out to a 9-3 lead after a service ace by Remple. TRU was able to close the lead to two points, 20-18 after a TWU attack error. But it was as close as the WolfPack could get. The Spartans finished the set with a 5-3 run to take the opening set 25-21 with Rein and Schoenherr blocking the WolfPack’s Mason Sodaro. TWU hit at .136 (10-7-22) in the first set, while TRU hit at .095 (6-4-21). The Spartans finished the opening set with a 7-2 edge in service aces, while TRU committed six service errors to TWU’s three.
The two teams were even early, but with TRU up 7-6 the WolfPack took control of the second set. TRU used a 9-4 run, capped off by a Sam Elgert kill to take a solid 16-10 lead. The Spartans responded and after a Remple kill and an error by TRU’s Sam Elgert the Spartans had cut the lead to one point, trailing 21-20. But the Spartans could not get closer as the WolfPack’s Gavin Margerison kill finished the set giving TRU a 25-22 win and evening the match at 1-1. In the second set TWU hit an impressive .450 (13-4-20), with TRU hitting .400 (11-3-20). The WolfPack had a 2-0 edge in service aces. Both teams struggled from end line with the WolfPack having eight errors to the Spartans six.
The third set was even through to the midway point with TWU leading 16-15. The Spartans gradually gained separation and after a block of Matthew Hamilton by Jackson Corneil (third-year, Surrey, B.C.) and De Greeff TWU had earned a 19-16 lead. The WolfPack were never able to get even as a kill by the Spartans Rempel finished off the set 25-20 for TWU to give the visitors a 2-1 set lead. TWU’s offense was considerably better than TRU’s in the third set. The Spartans finished at .391 (11-2-23), while the WolfPack hit at .077 (9-7-26).
The Spartans were impressive in the fourth set as they jumped out to a 16-9 lead midway through the set. TWU never looked back over the final set as the Spartans earned a 3-1 victory with a dominant 25-14 fourth set win. TWU hit an impressive .500 (11-2-18) in the final set, while TRU struggled at .107 (9-6-28). Both teams had one service ace in the set.
QUOTABLE TWU Head Coach Adam Schriemer
“Overall I am really pleased with the match tonight. I thought the game went on we got to a lot better in every phase. We did a really good job of serving as a match went on, and our block was able to get going. Offensively, really happy with how Anselm played he did a really good job following our plan and led us to a really efficient night.”
“I thought Cory and Jackson were great in the middle, and Henry was a beast, he was no doubt the best player on the floor tonight and I love that type of performance from our senior.”
NOTABLE
TWU finished the night hitting at .361 (45-15-83), while TRU finished at .158 (35-20-95).
The Spartans had a 9-7 edge in service aces and an 11-5 edge in total blocks.
Both teams struggled serving with TWU finishing with 23 errors, while TWU had 22.
The TRU loss ends the WolfPack’s winning streak at four matches.
Last week Trinity Western split with the Brandon Bobcats, winning 3-1 on Friday night, and losing 3-2 on Saturday night at home in Langley, B.C.
Last week TRU swept the UBC Okanagan Heat, winning 3-2 on both nights in Kelowna, B.C.
The Spartans are 69-14 lifetime against the WolfPack.
TWU last lost in conference play to TRU, 3-0, on February 15, 2020 in Kamloops, B.C.
The Spartans are 25-8 on the road against the WolfPack.
UP NEXT
The Spartans and the WolfPack will finish off the two-game series tomorrow afternoon in Kamloops, B.C. Match time at the Tournament Capital Centre is set for 4:15 p.m. and can be seen live on Canada West 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 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.