LANGLEY, British Columbia– The Trinity Western Spartans finished off their Canada West conference play with a 3-0 victory over the Mount Royal Cougars Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The 26-24, 25-20, 25-16 win improves the Spartans to 17-3 in Canada West conference play, while the loss drops the Cougars to 12-8.
Third-year outside
Piers De Greeff (Victoria, B.C.) with 14 kills and seven digs, second-year outside
Zach Hofer (Langley, B.C.) with 12 kills and three aces, and second-year outside
Willem Van Huizen (Langley, B.C.) with 10 kills, three blocks, and two aces led the Spartans. Ryan John, with 10 kills and three digs, led the Cougars.
TWU fifth-year setter
Anselm Rein (Erfurt, Germany) ran the Spartan attack, finishing with 38 set assists. Mount Royal's Devon Sales-Parno finished with 24 set assists for the Cougars.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will have a bye week before they host the Canada West quarter-final February 26-28. TWU will play the winner of the No. 10 at No. 7 matchup. The game is available to watch live on Canada West TV.
QUOTABLE
Adam Schriemer, TWU Head Coach
"Just happy for our seniors, for Anselm, Corey, Leon, Corn, Tate, Taylor, Tyson. Tyson coming in, playing defence, whatever, it was all great. Taylor getting in the game with serving. It was just fun to watch. It was a joy watching them play. This group has done a lot for us, and we're just happy for them. They've been great players for us, so it's good to see them out there tonight, so they get recognized."
AS IT HAPPENED
The opening set was back and forth early, with TWU leading 14-12, before MRU took five straight points to lead 17-14. The Spartans would tie the set up at 20-20. The two teams would exchange points to 24-24, when TWU took the final two points to win the opening set 26-24. TWU hit at .462 (16-4-26), while MRU hit at .476 (12-2-21).
The second set was evenly played to 12-12. Then the Spartans got separation with an 8-3 run to lead 20-15. From there, the teams exchanged points, with TWU taking the second set 25-20. The Spartans finished the set hitting at .273 (15-6-33), while the Cougars hit at .107 (8-5-28).
The Spartans came out strong to start the final set, taking an early 10-4 lead. TWU carried the lead to 14-8, when MRU made a push and cut the Spartans' lead to three points, 16-13. That was as close as the Cougars would get as TWU finished of the match with a 9-3 run to win 25-16 and earn a 3-0 sweep. TWU hit at .483 (16-2-29), while MRU hit at .083 (6-4-24).
NOTABLE
- The Spartans finished the night hitting at .398 (47-12-88) while the Cougars finished at .205 (26-11-73).
- The Spartans had the edge in service aces, 9-4, blocks, 6-3, and digs, 30-26.
- The Spartans are currently 33-10 lifetime against the Mount Royal Cougars.
- Last night the Spartans defeated the Cougars 3-1 (20-25, 25-22, 25-19, 25-16).
- Entering tonight's match, the Spartans had already secured second place in Canada West.
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.
-TW-
