LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western fourth-year star left side Eric Loeppky (Steinbach, Man.) had 19 kills to lead the No. 1-ranked Spartans to a 3-2 (25-13, 25-27, 27-25, 21-25, 15-11) win over Mount Royal Saturday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre. 

Loeppky finished the night hitting .500 (19-2-34), while adding three aces and eight digs as TWU improved to 13-1 on the season. 

The win secured TWU's 12th straight victory. The loss dropped MRU to 4-10 on the season. 

Setter Derek Epp (Saskaton) led the Spartans with a match-high 47 assists to guide the Spartans to a .313 hitting percentage. Pearce Eshenko (Banff, Alta.) had a match-high seven blocks, while Brodie Hofer (Langley) added four aces. 

The Cougars were led offensively by Trent Mounter, who had 19 kills, while Paul Dionne had 11 kills. Paul Dionne had a match-high five aces. The Cougars hit .216 as a team, with Keal Prince putting up 42 assists. 

On the strength of a Hofer serving run, the Spartans opened the contest with a 7-1 run and rolled to a convincing first-set win. Hitting .667 (13-1-18) as a team with just one attacking error, TWU ran away with a 12-point win. MRU hit -.100 as a team (4-6-20).

The Cougars jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second set and held a 14-11 edge before TWU started clawing back. The Spartans pushed ahead 24-20, but a no-quit MRU side roared back with a 7-1 run to win the set and even the match. The Cougars hit .600 (14-2-20) in the set compared to TWU's .241 (12-5-29). Mounter had seven kills in the second set alone. 

In the third, TWU took a 15-11 lead only to see MRU respond, slowly closing the gap before a Jace Martin ace put the Cougars up 24-23. However, this time TWU turned the tables late, coming back to earn a 27-25 win. 

Through three sets, Mounter had 14 kills while TWU's Loeppky had 12 kills. 

The Cougars opened a 13-7 lead in the fourth set after a kill from Jace Timmer. Holding TWU to a .174 hitting percentage, the Cougars held a lead throughout, taking the set with a kill from Martin. 

MRU took a 6-4 lead in the fifth set, but a 4-1 run by the home side gave the Spartans an 8-7 lead at the turn. TWU never trailed the rest of the way. On their second chance at match point, the Spartans took the win after an MRU serving error. 

QUOTABLE
Ben Ball – TWU Assistant Coach
"We were really happy about our start again, but then I don't if it was a loss of focus or whatever it was, but we kind of took our foot off the gas. We didn't stick to what was working defensively and then we got really passive offensively once MRU started making plays. We liked the fight of our guys, but it just got turned on and off at weird times with an inconsistent focus.

"Eric had a great game obviously, but our offence definitely wasn't as crisp as last night. MRU made some good adjustments and I think we just took too long to adjust to their adjustments."

NOTABLE
•    Loeppky's 19 kills was his second highest total this season, bettered only by a 22-kill effort against Alberta (Oct. 19). 
•    The Spartans have won nine consecutive games against the Cougars, dating back to Nov. 28, 2015. TWU also holds a 15-2 record over its last 17 games against Mount Royal.
•    TWU now owns a 22-4 overall record, including non-conference wins over UCLA, Long Beach State, Lewis, Queen's and Brock. 
•    TWU head coach Ben Josephson is not with the team, as he is currently coaching with Canada's senior women's team at the Olympic Qualifying tournament in the Dominican Republic. 

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.

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