EDMONTON – The No. 9 ranked Trinity Western Spartans earned a weekend sweep over MacEwan University after a scrappy 3-1 win Saturday night at City Centre Campus gymnasium, Edmonton, Alta. The 25-22, 30-28, 23-25, 25-23 win improves the Spartans to 7-3, while the loss drops the Griffins to 1-9. 

"The lesson of the day is that if you are going to win two on the road one of the wins is going to be a little ugly. In this league every team is smart, every team is good and every team is talented enough to put you under a lot of pressure when they know what you are doing," commented TWU head coach Ben Josephson. "Their staff did a great job of preparing for our strengths, but I thought our guys just toughed it out and found great resiliency under the pressure and kept coming back to build our own runs and steal enough point to find a way to win on the road." 

"The lesson of winning on a day when things are not clicking is really important. If you want to beat a great team then you have to steal some sweeps on the road," added Josephson. "Last road trip of the semester and now we are happy to head home and protect home court and see if we can't keep this thing rolling." 

Fourth-year outside hitter Ryan Sclater (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) led the Spartans with 18 kills, 11 digs, two aces, one assist, and one block for 20.5 points. Third-year outside hitter Blake Scheerhoorn, (Belleville, Ont.) had 15 points which included 13 kills, two aces, and six digs. 

Ryan McDonald led the way for the Griffins with 18 points with 16 kills, two digs, two blocks, and one ace. First-year middle hitter Max Vriend, (Barrhead, Alta.) made 13 kills, six digs, and six blocks for 16.5 points. 

The first set went to the Spartans, 25-23 after a series of ties and service errors kept either side from gaining any wayward momentum. 

The second set saw a dramatic battle from both teams that pushed into extra points in the end. The Griffins opened with a five-point run, the Spartans caught up at the seven-point mark, and from there the teams battled back and forth pressuring each other until the 23rd point when the Spartans caught up to the Griffins. The teams traded leads to earn that two-point buffer past 25 points, in the end the Spartans prevailed to take the set 30-28. 

MacEwan University came out with renewed focus in the third set, matching the Spartans point-for-point, after catching TWU with a four-point run early in the set. The Griffins capitalized with multiple kills by fourth-year outside-hitter Ryan McDonald, Westlock, AB to gain the lead 23-22, and then prevailed with a 25-23 victory. 

In similar fashion to the third, the teams fought each other neck-in-neck for each point, not letting each other get more than a two-point lead until the 23rd point. TWU's Ryan Sclater made two timely kills from fifth-year libero Tyler Koslowsky (Abbotsford, B.C.) for the deciding two points that ended the set 25-23, and the match 3-1 in favour of the Spartans. 

The Spartans will return home and host Mount Royal University this weekend on Friday, November 27 at 8 p.m. and again on Saturday, November 28 at 7 p.m. for the final matches of the fall semester. While the Griffins face the Thunderbirds on UBC's Point Grey campus in Vancouver. 

-GM-

-TW-