LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans finish the first half of Canada West play with an impressive 3-0 win over the Mount Royal University Cougars Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre. 

The 25-22, 25-15, 25-20 win moves the No. 9 Spartans to 8-4 on the season, while Mount Royal drops to 5-7. 

"Offensively we have a really talented group and Devyn is a great setter. We are running pretty fast and we have talented hitters, it is just our reception that is in and out at times. Tonight it was in," commented TWU head coach Ben Josephson. "Last night they were able to apply enough pressure and our receivers put us in tougher spots and they are such a great block defense team that when they put us in tough spots it usually resulted in points for them. Whereas tonight, we very rarely put ourselves at a disadvantage. And when we did our hitters made great shots to prolong the rally and get another swing." 

"Our guys had great togetherness tonight. Mount Royal was a tighter team last night, but tonight we were able to match that," added Josephson. 

The Spartans attack and blocking were impressive on the night. TWU finished with a side-out efficiency of 81 percent, an attack efficiency of 48.1 percent (42-5-77) on offense, while their block finished with nine team blocks. MRU finished the evening hitting at 16.2 percent (32-19-80) and one team block. 

Second year outside Ben Lieuwen (Abbotsford, B.C.) with 11 kills at 61.1 percent, fourth year outside Ryan Sclater (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) with 10 kills, five digs and four blocks, and third year outside Blake Scheerhoorn (Belleville, Ont.) with nine kills and two blocks led the Spartans. While second year outside Tyler Schmidt (Calgary) with 15 kills and fifth year outside Andrew McWilliam (Dutton, Ont.) with eight kills led the Cougars. 

"The guys handled the tough spots really well and stayed in system tonight. When we are in system we are probably as good as we have ever been. It has just been a challenge for our team to stay in system this year," commented Josephson. 

TWU fourth year setter Devyn Plett (Winnipeg) had a game high 37 set assists for the Spartans, while teammate, fifth year Libero Tyler Koslowsky (Abbotsford, B.C.), had a game high 10 digs. 

The Spartans and the Cougars are off until the second semester. TWU will open up with two home games against the University of Alberta on Jan. 8-9, while MRU will open up the second half hosting Thompson Rivers. 

Match Notes: Both teams finished with three service aces…MRU had 27 digs to TWU's 24… 

-TW-