VANCOUVER - The clash of the Canada West titans lived up to the hype Friday night, as the No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans took a thrilling five-set victory (25-22, 22-25, 25-18, 25-27, 15-10) over the No. 2 UBC Thunderbirds at War Memorial Gym.
 
TWU improved to a Canada West leading 16-1 on the season and extended their winning streak to 15 consecutive matches. The 'Birds had their 12-match winning streak snapped and are now tied with the Alberta Golden Bears (13-4) for second in the conference.
 
Eric Loeppky (Steinbach, Man.) racked up 21 kills for the Spartans with four service aces, four total blocks and five digs in the hard-fought victory. 

With his second ace of the night, Loeppky became the Canada West all-time leader in career aces. Loeppky how has 147 career aces, passing former Brandon Bobcat Paul Sanderson, who finished his career with 144 aces. 

TWU's Jackson Howe (Calgary) totalled 16 kills with a .591 hitting percentage and an ace, while Pearce Eshenko (Banff, Alta.) added 12 kills with six total blocks and an ace.
 
Matt Neaves led the 'Birds with 15 kills on .429 hitting, Michael Dowhaniuk had 10 kills with three total blocks and two aces, and Gerard Murray put up six kills with six total blocks in the loss.
 
There wasn't much separating the two teams coming into the matchup, and the first set was par for the course. With the score knotted up at 9-9, the Spartans went on a brief three-point run and carried that lead into the first technical timeout up 16-13. Henry Rempel (Swift Current, Sask.) kept the three-point edge at 20-17. The teams traded points until another T-Bird service error lifted TWU to a 25-22 first set finish.
 
Brodie Hofer (Langley, B.C.) served up an ace for TWU at 10-7 in the second set but gave it back after his next serve sailed long. Hofer smacked a kill at 14-12 Spartans, but Neaves responded with a huge kill off the block to make it a one-point deficit. Down 16-13 again at the technical timeout, the 'Birds stormed back and tied it at 16-16 on a TWU attack error. Loeppky came up with a big block to force a UBC timeout at 20-18 before Murray stoned Eshenko to draw even at 20-20. The T-Birds earned an edge on a service error to go up 23-22 and Nick Mickelberry gave the home team their first set point on a nifty kill on his first attack of the match. Backup setter Zec Johnson stepped up to the service line and dropped in an ace to lift UBC to a 25-22 set win.
  
TWU jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the third and maintained the advantage to yet another 16-13 score at the technical timeout. The Spartans took control and went up 23-17 on a string of UBC errors before Derek Epp (Saskatoon) earned a kill and Hofer served an ace to take the set 25-18.
 
The fourth set was tied at 8-8 before Jordan Deshane cranked a kill and the 'Birds gained momentum on a big block by Dowhaniuk and Murray at 15-12. Once again, the scoreboard read 16-13 at the technical timeout - but for the first time in UBC's favour. It didn't last long before the Spartans tied it at 16-16 on a Howe ace and retook the lead at 19-18 with a Loeppky kill. Johnson dropped his second ace of the match at 23-23 and Murray came up with block to give the 'Birds a set point. The set continued until TWU served long to give UBC their third set point, and captain Deshane put up the block to send the match to a fifth and deciding set.

TWU quickly earned a 4-0 lead on a UBC error and Loeppky snuck a lefty tip past the T-Bird block to go up 5-1.The teams traded missed serves and switched ends with the Spartans up 8-4. A T-Bird service error gave the No. 1-ranked Spartans a set point at 14-7, but UBC stayed alive on a crucial block. T-Bird setter Ben Hooker served up back-to-back aces to extend the match, but Jacob Kern (Edmonton) closed it out at 15-10.

QUOTABLE
Ben Josephson – TWU Head Coach
"It was an epic battle between No. 1 and No. 2 in the country. It lived up to the hype. I thought both teams were going after it, competing hard and being tough and resilient. I thought the missed serves on both sides was part of the storyline but I think that's a reflection of how much respect both teams have for the other team's offences. The only way to deal with those types of offences is to apply pressure from the baseline. I think both us and the 'Birds were getting after. Yea, there were too many misses for sure, but neither team was shying away.

"We had massive performances from our middle players. Both Jackson and Pearce were really great at spiking, which gave us a lot of opportunities to stay steady inside out. It was one of those matches that you have to be a little bit tougher than your opponent. Tonight we were just a couple plays better and I thought we showed our toughness in the fifth set. 

"This is like a playoff series. You have to win the first night to set yourself up. Last year we weren't able to take UBC out on the second night in the playoffs. That was the message leaving the gym. We're up 1-0 in the 'series' but we don't want to have to play a third night. The team that recovers the best is probably going to have the advantage. Being on the road is a disadvantage in the recovery phase, but I know we have great people and great systems of recovery and our athletes are dialed in. I know they're going to do what they have to do and we're going to have enough in the tank to put together another good performance." 

NOTABLE
•    TWU has won 15 consecutive games dating back to Oct. 25, 2019 and have lost just five sets all season. 
•    TWU split its games against UBC last year, falling 3-2 before winning in straight sets at home (Feb. 22-23, 2019).
•    The Spartans are 2-1 in five-set matches this year. TWU's 14 other wins all came in three sets.

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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