EDMONTON, Alberta– Two of the top teams in the country battled out Friday night in Edmonton, with the No. 3 Alberta Golden Bears prevailing 3-1 over the No. 2 Trinity Western Spartans at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton, Alta. The 25-20, 23-25, 25-16, 25-23 win improves the Bears to 8-1, while the loss drops the Spartans to 7-2.
 
The Golden Bears' attacking and serving aces were the difference in Alberta's win. The Spartans hit at .163 (40-24-98), while the Bears hit at .326 (46-15-95). Alberta also had a 9-3 edge in service aces.
 
Fourth-year outside Kaden Schmidt (Mississauga, Ont.) with 22 kills, five digs, two aces and two blocks led the Spartans. Jacob Sargent, with 17 kills, four digs, and two blocks, and Owen Harris, with 12 kills, four blocks, and one ace, led the Golden Bears.
 
Fifth-year setter Anselm Rein (Erfurt, Germany), with 32 set assists, led the TWU attack, while Luke Weddell led the Golden Bears with 40 assists.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Golden Bears will finish off the two-match series tomorrow at 5 p.m. (MT) at the Saville Community Sports Centre, which will be available to watch live on CBC Sports Game of the Week.

QUOTABLE
Adam Schriemer, TWU Head Coach
"I thought Kaden Schmitt and Anselm Rein were spectacular tonight. Those were two performances that they can be proud of.  This was the biggest test we saw all year in terms of serving pressure, and we broke. We weren't the reception team we have been all year, or the one we know we can be. Kaden was a high-volume guy for us who earned a lot of points, but unfortunately, we didn't have as much offensive execution and just weren't able to earn enough points and were far too ineffective in that phase."

AS IT HAPPENED
The Golden Bears opened with precision and balance, hitting .407 in the frame. Harris set the tone early with a series of clean swings, while Sargent and Martens contributed timely kills. Alberta built a multi-point cushion and held off the Spartans late push to secure the opener.
 
Trinity Western responded with its tightest offensive set, capitalizing on Alberta errors while Schmidt took over from the left side. Despite a strong distribution from Weddell, the Bears' eight attack errors proved costly, allowing the Spartans to edge the frame and level the match.
 
Alberta delivered its most dominant set of the night, hitting .474 and limiting TWU to .043. Sargent and Harris combined for a flurry of kills as Weddell's tempo quickened. At the net, Cherewaty and Shand formed an effective blocking tandem, helping Alberta take control of the match.
 
The Bears closed out the contest in a tight fourth set marked by long rallies and defensive grit. Harris remained unstoppable on the right side, while Weddell added two more aces to keep the Spartans off balance. TWU threatened late behind Schmidt's heavy arm, but Martens and Sargent sealed the final points to clinch the match.
 
NOTABLE

• Alberta had the edge in total blocks 9-6, with both teams finishing with 27 digs.
• Last week, the Spartans lost to the No. 1 Thunderbirds 3-2 (25-19, 24-26, 21-25, 25-20, 17-15) at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver, B.C.
• Last week, the Golden Bears swept the Mount Royal Cougars 3-1 and 3-0 in Edmonton, Alta.
• Last season, the Spartans swept the Golden Bears, winning 3-2 both nights at home at the Langley Events Centre on January 17-18.
• These are the final conference matches of the fall semester for the Spartans. 

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, hockey and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as in the NAIA in track and field and cross country and as an independent team in men's rugby and women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 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 U 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.  
 
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