WINDSOR, Ontario – The No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans were dominating in their opening match at the U SPORTS championship at the Toldo Lancer Centre in Windsor, Ont. As the top ranked Spartans easily swept the No. 8 Western Mustangs 25-14, 25-15 and 25-13 to advance to the medal round.
 
Third-year outside Piers De Greeff (Victoria, B.C.) was named Trinity Western's player of the game after recording 11 kills, two service aces and six digs while hitting .429 in an efficient offensive performance. Fourth-year outside Kaden Schmidt (Mississauga, Ont.) led all scorers with 12 kills and two aces for the Spartans, while Jackson Corneil added seven kills and three blocks. Fifth-year setter Anselm Rein (Erfurt, Germany) orchestrated the offence with 31 assists as Trinity Western consistently found openings against the Western block.
 
Western struggled to find offensive rhythm throughout the contest. Oliver Toomes and Jayden Talsma each recorded five kills, while Kendall Homenick chipped in with three. Andrew Kerkhoff earned player-of-the-game honours for the Mustangs after contributing 10 digs and steady defensive play in the back row.
 
UP NEXT
The No. 1 Spartans will now match up with the No. 4 Windsor Lancers in the U SPORTS semi-final tomorrow night at 8 p.m. (ET) at the Toldo Lancer Centre in Windsor, Ont. The match can be seen live on CBC Gem.
 
QUOTABLE
Adam Schriemer TWU head coach:
I think to start, we're pleased that the curse is over. Huge monkey off our back to be able to beat Western in a national quarterfinal."
 
"I thought our guys were great tonight.  We talked about being good after good and just consistent in all phases, and that was great to see.  Good to see Pierce with a really clean offensive night partnered with Kaden with a really quiet, efficient night as well.  Our middle did a really nice job at the net, slowing them down, and a lot of transition offence to earn a lot of points.  All our players on our team today were good.  And when that happens it makes us a dangerous team, which is exciting.  We can't be more excited to play the host in the national semifinal tomorrow.  It's an amazing opportunity.  And we're excited to play to win."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans controlled the match from the outset, using strong serving pressure and balanced attacking to keep Western on the defensive. Trinity Western finished with nine service aces and hit .392 as a team, while limiting the Mustangs to a .036 attacking percentage.

The Spartans built early leads in each set and rarely allowed the Mustangs to close the gap. A series of service runs and timely blocks helped Trinity Western steadily extend its advantage as the match progressed.

After cruising through the first two sets, Trinity Western maintained its momentum in the third, pulling away midway through before closing out the sweep.

NOTABLE

• The Spartans finished the night hitting at .392 (40-11-74) while the Mustangs finished at .036 (19-16-83).
• TWU had the edge in blocks 6-3.5, digs 41-21, and aces 9-1.
• The Spartans have met the Mustangs in the U SPORTS championship two times prior to tonight, losing both quarter-final matchups. Losing 3-2 in Calgary in 2014 and 3-2 in Quebec City, Que. In 2013.

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-