EDMONTON, Alberta – Fifth-year outside hitter
Kaden Schmidt (Mississauga, Ont.) recorded 19 kills and 10 digs, but the No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans fell 3-2 to the No. 3 Alberta Golden Bears Friday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre. The Spartans twice rallied to tie the match before Alberta took the deciding set, winning 29-27, 30-32, 25-19, 16-25, 15-9.
The loss drops the Spartans to 2-1 in conference play, while the Golden Bears improve to 3-0 following their home opener.
Third-year outside hitter
Zach Hofer (Langley, B.C.) matched his career high with 14 kills, adding six digs, two blocks and an ace. Third-year setter
Willem Van Huizen (Langley, B.C.) finished with 41 assists, a team-high 12 digs, four kills and three blocks.
Fifth-year outside hitter
Kyden Dmitruk (Surrey, B.C.) contributed six kills and four blocks, while third-year middle
Zack Yewchuk (Surrey, B.C.) had four kills and a team-high five blocks. Third-year middle
Nathan Howden-Duke (North Vancouver, B.C.) added five kills without an error on 10 attempts, and second-year libero
Isaac Navarro (Surrey, B.C.) recorded nine digs.
Dylan Martens led Alberta with 19 kills and 14 digs, while Tyson DeZutter added 16 kills and seven digs. Owen Harris finished with 10 kills without an error on 17 attempts. Setter Luke Weddell had 45 assists, 14 digs, six blocks and five of Alberta's 11 aces.
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Golden Bears meet again Saturday, November 7 at the Saville Community Sports Centre in Edmonton. First serve is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. (MST) / 5:45 p.m. (PT), with the match available live on Canada West TV.
QUOTABLE
Adam Schriemer, TWU Head Coach
"Competing in Canada West and in the Saville Centre - it's not easy. I'm really happy with our guys in how we just engaged in the fight for almost a three-hour game. The big challenge against playing Alberta is just winning the terminal serve battle and we didn't handle their tough serves well tonight. We didn't serve as well as we could have. I really liked what our block defence looked like. We slowed down some of their key players, and their left sides had a hard time scoring, which was awesome. But I think in these close games, you got to make plays when it matters the most, and that was the hard part about tonight, in those clutch moments, we didn't execute the way we could have, and it's going to take everything for us to regroup for tomorrow. I'm excited for the challenge that we get to do that."
AS IT HAPPENED
TWU built a 24-22 lead in the opening set, but Alberta saved both set points and moved ahead 25-24 on a Martens kill. The Spartans extended the set to 27-27 before a service error and an attack error gave Alberta the final two points. TWU hit .355 in the frame but lost 29-27.
The Spartans again led 24-22 in the second, only for Alberta to score three straight points. TWU fought off four Alberta set points, with Schmidt supplying kills at 24-25, 26-27 and 29-30. From 29-30, the Spartans scored three consecutive points, finishing with a block by Hofer and Howden-Duke to win 32-30 and tie the match.
Alberta pulled away in the third, with consecutive Weddell aces pushing its lead to 22-16. The Golden Bears closed out the set 25-19 to move ahead 2-1.
TWU responded in the fourth, turning an 18-14 advantage into a 24-14 lead with six straight points. Hofer's kill sealed a 25-16 win as the Spartans hit .348 and held Alberta to .083.
The teams were tied 3-3 early in the fifth before Alberta moved ahead 8-5 at the change of ends. A four-point run extended the Golden Bears' lead from 8-6 to 12-6. TWU could not close the gap, and a block by Weddell and Trent Cherewaty ended the match at 15-9. Alberta hit .350 in the deciding set, while the Spartans finished at .000 with six kills and six errors.
NOTABLE
- The Spartans hit .248 (53 kills, 20 errors, 133 attempts), while Alberta hit .204 (54 kills, 26 errors, 137 attempts).
- Alberta led 53-42 in digs and 11-2 in aces.
- Both teams had 10 blocks and 30 service errors.
- TWU is now 39-71 all-time against Alberta, including 17-48 in Canada West regular-season matches. The loss ended TWU's two-match winning streak in the series. The Spartans won the previous meeting 3-0 in the Canada West semifinal on March 6, 2026.
- Schmidt's 59 attack attempts tied for fifth on TWU's Canada West single-match list. He holds the program record with 76 attempts against Manitoba on October 23, 2026.
- Schmidt moved into fifth on TWU's Canada West career attack attempts list with 2,042, passing Eric Loeppky's 1,985. His 19 kills brought his conference career total to 881, sixth in program history.
- TWU returned from a bye after opening the season with 3-2 and 3-1 home wins over Manitoba. Alberta opened with 3-0 and 3-1 victories at Thompson Rivers last weekend.
- Attendance was 998.
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 and field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes independently in men's rugby and women's and men's disc golf. Since joining U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 15 U SPORTS team championships and 35 Canada West team championships.
About Trinity Western University
TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning and holds three Canada Research Chairs. Through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education, TWU offers a wide range of undergraduate, graduate and adult degree-completion programs that equip leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
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