HAMILTON (U SPORTS) – The Trinity Western Spartans will play for national gold on Sunday in the hopes of securing a seventh U SPORTS national championship title and first since 2019. Brodie Hofer (Langley, B.C.), Jesse Elser (Calgary) and Henry Rempel (Swift Current, Sask.) each tallied double-digit kills during Trinity Western's 3-1 victory (25-27, 25-20, 25-21, 25-21) over McMaster on Saturday in the semifinal matchup at the 2023 U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship, presented by Mikasa, at Burridge Gymnasium.

The win sees the Spartans extend their perfect record against McMaster at the national championship tournament to 7-0 all-time, with four of those wins coming at Burridge Gym. Each of TWU's last six wins against the Marauders have been 3-1 victories.

The Spartans will now play in the U SPORTS Championship final for the seventh straight season – a run that started in 2015. TWU will take on Sherbrooke in the final, who knocked off top-seeded Alberta in the semifinals in straight sets. First serve is set for 6 p.m. (ET) at Burridge Gymnasium. The final can be seen live on CBC Sports YouTube.

The national will mark the second straight year TWU will play the Vert et Or at the national tournament, as they beat Sherbrooke in last year's semifinal in three sets. TWU went on to take silver while Sherbrooke captured bronze. 

In Saturday's win, Hofer finished with 17 kills on 35 total attacks and had four service aces, while Elser had 15 kills and Rempel added 12. Setter, Mathias Elser, recorded 43 assists and contributed five digs.

In exactly the same fashion as TWU has done in each of its previous three wins against McMaster at Burridge Gym, it was the Marauders winning the first set before TWU roared back to earn victories. 

Robbie Fujisawa quarterbacked the Marauder squad with 35 assists in the losing cause.

The two teams combined for 95 kills, 88 assists and 18 service aces.

The host Marauders will take on Alberta in the bronze medal game at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

QUOTABLE 
Adam Schriemer – TWU Head Coach
"I thought Jesse had some awesome perspective before the game on how to play in this environment and a little insight into what it'll be like. I thought Jesse's leadership really prepared us to be in the game. Although we didn't win the first set, I thought we played well. I thought we came out to play but we just didn't close out the set. 

"We were serving really aggressively and in that first set, I thought McMaster was converting on all their high ball swings. They were taking a lot of risk and they were spiking at a really efficient level. They're awesome players but spiking high balls all night is really difficult. For us, it was about sticking with it in the serving phase and sticking with it in our block stability as well.

"With Cory [Schoenherr], what's unique about him is that he does such an amazing job of processing information. It always seems that late in the set, he gets one of those key plays. He's always gathering information and then with that information in his head, he makes the plays late in sets. He's such a student of the game and I guarantee he's watched film on these guys all year long.

"As for Anselm Rein, he is such a gamer. One of our core mantras is 'just do your job' and I thought he was the perfect example of that. His job is to come in and serve bombs and he did just that.

"The most important thing is that this is the team that got TWU to our seventh straight national final. We know that we are standing on the shoulders of giants and all the awesome people who came through this program before, but what can't get lost is that this team is the seventh team to do it."

Brodie Hofer – Outside Hitter
"I love the noise. It really helps me stay out of my own head. Sometimes I'm really tired and when the crowd is all cheering, it definitely gives me some energy." 

Jesse Elser – Outside Hitter
"I'm just trying to soak everything in. I think every single person on the floor gave everything they had tonight.

"What Anselm did tonight in that environment is not human. That's insane. I was so proud of him. I was losing my mind for him. Obviously Brodie was the MVP but Anselm was the next MVP. He's been doing it for the last several weeks, but was incredible tonight."

NOTABLE
•    TWU and McMaster have now met at the national championship tournament in six of the last seven seasons.
•    TWU is 2-0 all-time against Sherbrooke, including last year's semifinal contest and an exhibition match on Oct. 13, 2001, which the Spartans won in five sets. 
•    Since 2009, the Spartans have won every single national semifinal they've played in, as they've earned a spot in the national championship match in 10 of the last 12 seasons.

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby and varsity disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 33 Canada West team championships.

About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in CIS sports. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.  

-TW-