VANCOUVER – The No. 3 Trinity Western men's volleyball team completed a weekend sweep of No. 7 UBC with a 3-0 (27-25, 25-20, 25-17) win Saturday at War Memorial Gym.

Trailing 13-11 in the third set, Trinity Western turned the tide by winning 14 of the last 18 points to clinch a 25-17 win. Del Bianco and teammate Blake Scheerhoorn (Belleville, Ont.) both earned three kills down the stretch.

With its ninth straight win, TWU improves to 16-4 and is tied for second in the Canada West standings with Brandon.

With the loss the Thunderbirds drop to 10-10, marking the first time since the 2011-2012 Canada West season that UBC has lost 10 regular season games. They now hold sole possession of the seventh and final playoff position in Canada West standings with just two weeks remaining in the regular season.

Spartan left-side Nick Del Bianco (Surrey, B.C.) led all players with 14 kills, giving him an even 30 through the weekend's seven sets. Scheerhoorn added 13 kills while Branden Schmidt (De Winton, Alta.) had a match-high eight blocks.
 
Fourth-year left side Ben Chow (Surrey) led the Thunderbirds with nine kills on the evening.
 
UBC middle Alex Russell (Surrey) managed to rack up seven kills in the first two sets. Fellow middle Chris Howe (Salt Spring Island, B.C.) was in on six of UBC's nine blocks through two sets of play before being replaced by rookie Joel Regehr (Courtenay, B.C).

"The first two sets were a little bit sloppy and a little greasy. They made some nice adjustments, but in the second set, our offense started clicking and then we started clamping down on a couple of things," said Spartans coach Ben Josephson. "We adjusted well to a couple of guys who beat us yesterday, but in doing so, we let a couple others guys find success.

"Overall, I thought the guys won the greasy sets and then played really clean and smooth in the third set."
 
In the first set, Sclater's kills to put TWU up 24-23 and then 25-24. UBC saved both set points but then surrendered two attack errors to fall 27-25.

The Spartans opened the second set strong, claiming the first five points and forcing the Thunderbirds to play from behind. Irvan Brar's kill got UBC to within two at 17-15 but a Scott Plocktis (Kelowna, B.C.) kill sparked a 3-0 surge that turned the momentum back in favour of the visiting side. A Ryan Sclater (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) block finished the second set for TWU.
 
TWU found its rhythm midway through the third set and took control of the match down the stretch.

The Spartans return to Langley Jan. 30-31 when they will host the University of Saskatchewan Huskies at the Langley Events Centre.

UBC will travel to Calgary to face the eight-place Dinos next weekend before returning home to take on Regina.

Game Notes: The Spartans have won each of their last seven matches in four sets or less…TWU had 13.5 blocks to UBC's nine…
 
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