LANGLEY, B.C. – The No. 1 ranked Trinity Western Spartans men's volleyball team returned home to defeat Mount Royal in straight sets (25-13, 25-20, 25-15) for its first home victory of the New Year Friday at the Langley Events Centre.
 
With the win, the Spartans (12-1) improved their program best consecutive sets streak to 33. The win was also TWU's 11^th consecutive in conference play.
 
It was a full team effort for TWU, with Jacob Kern (Edmonton) contributing a game high eight kills, while Brodie Hofer (Langley) hit a perfect .1000 along with six kills, three serving aces and five digs. 
 
The first set saw both teams keep pace with each other early, as Mount Royal (4-9) stayed within a point of the No. 1 ranked Spartans at 8-7. Then TWU took over, courtesy of nine consecutive points – including two serving aces from fifth-year middle Pearson Eshenko (Banff, Alta.).
 
The Cougars once again kept up with TWU early in the second set, before the Spartans broke the tie at 7-6 and never looked back, winning 25-20. Hofer contributed four second set kills on four attempts, while TWU came out of the second set hitting .400.
 
The third set was much of the same, as TWU got contributions from its deep lineup throughout the third set to close out the set 25-15 for the win. 
 
The Spartans have still yet to lose a set in conference play since Oct. 19, 2019 against Alberta (3-2).  
 
QUOTABLE
Ben Ball – TWU Assistant Coach
 
"Right off the bat our guys were sharing a ton of information with each other before the serves. With everything that was different with our lineup that definitely helped them not have to think too hard. 
 
"We were pretty clean overall today. Our serve pressure was strong – maybe a few too many misses but we were getting results, so we were okay with that. Into the third set we may have gotten a little too sloppy and lost some focus, but the guys were still all saying the right things and pushing each other."
 
NOTABLE

• TWU head coach Ben Josephson is not with the team, as he is currently coaching with Canada's senior women's team as part of the Olympic qualifying tournament.
• First-place TWU returned to Langley after a Can Am Tournament (Dec. 28-21, 2019) in Toronto that saw them defeat NCAA champion Long Beach State (3-2), before a pair of sweeps over UCLA and Lewis.  
• The Spartans more recently played a trio of exhibition games on the road last weekend, defeating Brock University (3-0) before a pair of losses to No. 4 McMaster (3-2, 3-1).
• TWU has won eight consecutive games against the Cougars, dating back to Nov. 28, 2015. TWU also holds a 14-2 record over its last 16 games against Mount Royal.

 
NEXT UP
TWU and Mount Royal square off again Saturday (1 p.m. PT) at the Langley Events Centre. 

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men's hockey and as an independent team in men's rugby. The men's and women's hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.
 
-TW-