VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans men's volleyball team defeated the UBC Thunderbirds 3-2 in preseason men's volleyball action Thursday night at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver. The 25-19, 25-19, 17-25, 19-25, and 15-12 win improves the Spartans to 12-2 in preseason play. TWU is currently on a nine game winning streak. 

Fifth year outside Ryan Sclater (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) with 18 kills and seven digs, and fourth year setter Adam Schriemer (Winnipeg) with 44 set assists and three blocks led the Spartans attack, while Irvan Brar with 15 kills and Byron Keturakis with 46 set assists and six blocks led the Thunderbirds. 

The Spartans had control of the match in the first two sets as the dominated the play and recorded two 25-19 wins. TWU hit at .409 and .310 in the opening sets, while UBC hit at .111 and .385. 

In the third set UBC took advantage of TWU attacking errors to earn a 25-17 win. The Spartans had more errors then kills and hit at -.143, while the Thunderbirds hit at .375. 

The fourth set saw UBC finish strong by 13 to 7 run to take the set 25-19 after the teams were tied at 12-12. TWU hit at .208, while UBC finished at .320. 

In the final set the Spartans jumped out to the 6-3 lead. TWU maintained the lead to 12-9. The Thunderbirds closed the gap to one point, 12-11 and 13-12. But the Spartans were able to take the final two points to win the set, 15-12, and the match 3-2

Next up for the Spartans are two home matches at the Langley Events Centre. On Friday night at 6 p.m. Trinity Western will take on Mount Royal and then on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. Trinity Western will match up against UBC Okanagan. 

The defending CIS men's volleyball champion Spartans open Canada West conference play Friday, October 28 in Regina against the Cougars. TWU's home opener is Friday, November 4 when they will host the Calgary Dinos.

-TW-