WINNIPEG – In a battle between two of the top teams in Canada, the No. 3 ranked Trinity Western Spartans defeated the No. 6 ranked Winnipeg Wesmen 3-1 (22-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-19) Friday in Winnipeg.

With their 12th straight win, the Spartans improve to 19-4 to maintain its hold on second place in Canada West. The Wesmen fall to 13-10, which puts them fourth in the conference.

Third year outside hitter Ryan Sclater (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) led the Spartans with a match-high 18 kills. Fifth-year outside hitter Nicholas Del Bianco (Surrey, B.C.) was next with 15 kills. Middle blocker Daniel Grant (Chetwynd, B.C.) added eight blocks. Tyler Koslowsky (Abbotsford, B.C.) had a match high 11 digs.

First-year middle Aaron Boettcher (Surrey) played in his first game as a Spartan and earned four kills and five blocks.

David Bommersbach and fifth-year outside hitter Tom Douglas-Powell led the Wesmen with 11 kills each. Casey Schouten had nine kills and nine digs. Matt Dueck led the team in blocks with three.

"After losing the first set, it took us until the midway point of the second set to get our flow back, but once we did, I thought we controlled the rest of the match," said Spartans coach Ben Josephson. "Our block was fantastic. With the two of the top serving teams in the conference on the court, it was difficult for both offences to be efficient. They made it hard on us, but our block was incredible. Blake (Scheerhoorn, Belleville, Ont.) and Danny did a great job on Douglas-Powell. And Sclater was also fantastic."

The match between two Canada West heavyweights started off on even footing. In the first set, the Spartans held a 16-15 lead at the technical timeout. However, Winnipeg took control soon after, going on a 7-1 run to take a 23-19 lead late in the set. The Spartans cut the lead to 23-22, but Winnipeg closed out the set thanks to an error by the Spartans and a kill by setter Josh McKay to win the opening set 25-22.

In the second set, the Spartans took a 16-14 lead thanks to a Sclater kill at the technical break. A few moments later a block by Dueck and Douglas-Powell gave the Wesmen a 22-21 lead but Winnipeg was unable to hold the lead as a pair of Sclater kills paced the Spartans to a 25-22 win to tie the match 1-1.

In the third set the Spartans found momentum early and went into the technical break leading 16-10. Winnipeg went on a run late in the set but was unable to get any closer as the Spartans closed out the third set up 25-19.

The Spartans closed out the match winning the fourth set by a score of 25-19.

The two teams will do battle on Saturday afternoon. Match time is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. PT.

Game Notes: The Spartans jerseys were misplaced on the way to Winnipeg, so TWU borrowed jerseys from MBCI (Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute), which is where Adam Schriemer, Devyn Plett and Carter Bergen graduated from…TWU hit .214 as a team while Winnipeg hit .124…TWU had a 15-6 edge in blocks.

-TW-