CALGARY – Down a set going to the fourth, Trinity Western rallied to beat UBC Okanagan 3-2 (27-29, 25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 15-13) in the Spartans first match of the Blue Team Cup at Mount Royal University's Kenyon Court.

Kaden Schmidt led TWU with 20.5 points, including 18 kills, two aces and a block, while Zack Yewchuk was nearly unstoppable from the middle, with 11 kills and just one attack error for a .769 hitting percentage, while also collecting four aces. Zach Hofer added 12 kills. 

Setter Willem Van Huizen guided the offence with 34 assists while also earning six aces and five kills. 

UBC Okanagan's Xander Van Driel had a team-high 16 kills while Seba Manuel had 12 kills.

TWU had a 15-4 edge in aces, but the Heat countered with a 13-3 advantage in blocks. 

TWU is 5-0 in the preseason, with Thursday's contest marking the Spartans first match against Canada West competition. The Spartans previously took three-set wins over Toronto Metropolitan, Waterloo, Queen's and Laval.

QUOTABLE
Adam Schriemer, TWU Head Coach 
"It's always good to get a win, especially against a team that was amongst the best in Canada West last year and returns nearly their whole starting lineup. We played against an awesome opponent and I'm happy our guys could squeak out a win. Zack Yewchuk was awesome tonight. He had a good week of training and it was really cool to see him play well out there. Offensively he was great and his serve is what kept us in every set. Preseason is about learning about yourself and I hope we learn some things from tonight. I don't think we had the appropriate competitive mindset today throughout the whole two and a half hour match and I hope throughout this tournament we can find that a bit better."

UP NEXT
The Spartans continue the Blue Team Cup with games against UBC Friday (4pm MT / 3pm PT) and Mount Royal Saturday (3pm MT / 2pm PT). 
 
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 women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 15 U SPORTS team championships and 35 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.  

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