Box Score SASKATOON – The University of Saskatchewan Huskies swept the No. 5 Trinity Western University Spartans 3-0 (25-15, 25-18, 25-18) Friday night at the PAC.
The Huskies held the Spartans under 20 points in all three sets as they improved to 3-2 on the season. The Spartans drop to 3-2 with the loss.
The win was Saskatchewan's first victory over TWU since Mar. 6, 2004, when the Huskies beat the Spartans in three sets in the 2004 CIS national championship semifinal. Prior to Friday, the Spartans had won 27 straight regular season or playoff matches against the Huskies.
Blake Scheerhoorn (Bellevill, Ont.) led the Spartans with eight kills in the match on 25 attacks. Leigh Goossen (Kelowna, B.C.) and Aaron Boettcher (Surrey, B.C.) each notched three service aces in the match.
Jordan Nowakowski led the match with 14 kills for the Huskies on 20 attacks. Tyler Epp and Andrew Nelson each had eight kills and three service aces in the match.
"We met a really hot Saskatchewan team," said Spartans coach Ben Josephson. "They were great. They planned us well, executed their plan well and they adapted to a couple of things we had going. They were pretty fired about the win and you could tell they were prepared. That's a great lesson for us in terms of the amount of preparation and intentional approach that is needed to win games in this league. They gave us a lesson on that and hopefully we can match it tomorrow and have an appropriate response."
Midway through the first set the Huskies broke out on an 11-3 run, sparked by a big Tyler Epp block, to lead 21-11.
In the second, the Huskies jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead before the Spartans responded with a run to get ahead 7-5. After a Huskie timeout, Saskatchewan went on a 3-0 run to get back in front. TWU kept it close until an 8-3 Huskies run gave Saskatchewan a 22-16 lead and eventually a 25-18 set win.
To close out the match, the Huskies got off to a 10-2 start. The Spartans had a pair of runs to cut into the Saskatchewan lead, but the early deficit was too much to overcome in the final set.
The two teams meet again tomorrow night at 8 p.m. following the women's match.
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