BRANDON, Manitoba – Led by fourth-year Kaden Schmidt's (Mississauga, Ont.) 26 kills, the  No. 2 Trinity Western Spartans opened their two-game weekend series with a 3-1 victory over the Brandon Bobcats Friday night at the Healthy Living Centre in Brandon, Man. The 25-16, 25-21, 15-25, 25-22 win improves the Spartans to 11-2, while the loss drops the Bobcats to 5-8 in Canada West conference play.
 
Schmidt finished the night hitting at .417 (26-6-48), while adding five digs and one service ace for a team high 27points. Fifth-year middle Cory Schoenherr (Waterloo, Ont.) added to the Spartan totals, finishing with six kills, four aces, two digs, and one block for 10.5 points.  Tom Friesen with 23 kills, six digs, and two blocks, and Liam Pauls with 10 kills, four digs, and two aces, led the Bobcats.
 
TWU fifth-year setter Anselm Rein (Erfurt, Germany) ran the Spartan attack, finishing with 39. Brandon's Kale Fisher ran the Bobcats offence and finished with 29 set assists.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will finish off the weekend series with the Bobcats at the Healthy Living Centre tomorrow night at 6:45 p.m. (CT). The match can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
QUOTABLE
Adam Schriemer, TWU Head Coach
"Pleased with our performance tonight.  Really, really exciting to see us come out that good offensively and at the end-line today as well. The way Corey and Kaden served in that first set really put so much pressure on them, and then we were able to get a good handle on the outsides. Kaden was spectacular tonight. We used him in lots of different areas.  He put up 26 kills at a high efficiency. The play of our middles was good.  Jackson Corneil, with his first start in the middle, did a lot of cool stuff for us.  And Corey controlled the game in lots of different areas."
 
"I think what we learned about this Brandon team is that they don't really go away.  There were many moments when we were up and had the lead, and they found a way to claw back.  I think we could probably earn some more points later on in sets.  But they're great, and we'll have our hands full again tomorrow."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The opening set was even at 9-9, then the Spartans got separation with an 11-3 run to take a solid 20-12 lead. The Bobcats were unable to close, as TWU took the opening set 25-16. TWU hit at .150 (7-4-20), while Brandon hit at -.071 (8-10-28).
 
The second set was again evenly played in the opening stages with TWU holding an early 12-11 lead. But as was the case in the opening set, TWU took control with an 8-3 run to take a 20-14 lead. The Bobcats closed late to trail 23-20, but the Spartans still prevailed 25-21. The Spartans finished the set hitting at .368 (20-6-38), while the Bobcats hit at .214 (8-2-28).
 
The Bobcats carried their late set momentum into the third set. Brandon dominated the set, quickly taking control and going up 12-4. TWU was unable to get any flow going, and Brandon took the third set 25-15. TWU had their worst set of the match in the third, hitting at .000 (4-4-21), while Brandon had their best hitting at .407 (14-3-27).
 
The fourth set returned to the form of the first two sets, with the teams evenly matched, early tied at 13-13. But similar to the opening two sets, TWU took control with a 10-4 run to lead 23-17. The Bobcats cut into the lead to trail by two points, 24-22, but the Spartans stopped the Brandon rally to take the set 25-22 and the match 3-1. In the final set, TWU finished at .364 (17-5-33), while Brandon finished at .233 (9-2-30).
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans finished the night hitting at .259 (48-19-112), while the Bobcats finished at .195 (39-17-113).
• Brandon had the edge in blocks 12.5-4. While TWU was better in digs, 44-43, and service aces 8-5.
• The Spartans are currently 35-17 lifetime against the Brandon Bobcats.
• Last year, the Spartans split with the Bobcats, losing 3-1 and winning 3-2 on October 24-25 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.
• Last week, the Spartans swept the Thompson Rivers WolfPack. winning 3-2 and 3-0 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.
• Last week, the Bobcats swept the Fraser Valley Cascades. Winning 3-0  both nights on the road in Abbotsford, B.C.
• The Spartans are led by Kaden Schmidt, who leads Canada West with 4.94 kills per set, while adding 0.98 digs per set, 0.38 blocks per set, and 0.54 aces per set (second in Canada West), and Anselm Rein who his third in Canada West with 10.04 assists per set, and first in Canada West in aces per set with 0.56.
• Brandon is led by Thomas Friesen, who is fifth in Canada West with 3.49 kills per set, to go with 0.44 blocks per set.

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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