NO. 8 SPARTANS BOUNCE BACK TO BEAT UFV IN FOUR

Box Score ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – Less than 24-hours after a heartbreaking five-set loss to UFV, the No. 8-ranked Trinity Western Spartans responded in emphatic fashion, earning a 3-1 (25-16, 25-19, 21-25, 25-22) win over the Cascades Friday at the UFV Athletic Centre. 
 
Led by the duo of Piers de Greeff and Kaden Schmidt, who had 18 kills apiece, the Spartans picked up a much-needed road win to improve to 11-7 on the season. Guiding the offence to a .322 hitting percentage was setter Anselm Rein, who compiled an impressive statistical line that included 34 assists, five kills, four aces, four blocks and 10 digs. Jackson Corneil was instrumental in the middle hitting .857 with an errorless six kills on seven attempts. Cory Schoenherr equaled Rein with four blocks.
 
With the win the Spartans ensured themselves a spot in the Canada West quarter-finals and thus earned a bye for the first round of the conference playoffs.  
 
Jonas Van Huizen had a team-high 15 kills for the Cascades, while Silas Van Huizen had 38 assists while guiding UFV to a .217 hitting percentage. Nimo Benne had a match-high six aces.

QUOTABLE
Adam Schriemer, TWU Head Coach
“I thought there were a lot of similarities between yesterday’s match and today’s match. I liked how we were able to respond and play clean for the majority of the sets. I think the difference today was that we were able to play much cleaner later on in the sets. Offensively, Anselm was dialed and Piers and Kaden were exceptional. We talked about the fact that we didn’t play how we want to play when it mattered most yesterday and there were some big moments today in the third and fourth sets where I thought we held our composure and played cleaner when it mattered, so I was happy with those upgrades.”
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans return home to host Saskatchewan Feb. 14-15 at the Langley Events Centre in the final weekend of the regular season.  
 
NOTABLE
·       TWU is now a perfect 6-0 all-time against the Cascades at the UFV Athletic Centre.
·       The Spartans own a 12-2 overall record all-time against UFV.
·       Combined with a 21-kill performance in Thursday’s match, TWU’s de Greeff finished the weekend with 39 kills in nine sets for an average of 4.33 per set. 
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans opened the match with a strong showing in each of the first two sets, holding UFV to a 0.74 hitting percentage in the opening set while hitting .406 themselves. The second set saw the Cascades bounce back offensively, hitting .207 to TWU’s .200, but TWU’s early 6-1 lead proved insurmountable as UFV never got closer than two points. 
 
The third set saw the teams combine for just three attacking errors, with TWU hitting .429 and UFV hitting .414, but with the score tied 19-19, the home side forced a fourth set with a 6-2 set-ending run. 
 
With the fourth set tied 14-14, the Spartans tallied three straight points, with kills from Schoenherr, de Greeff and Schmidt, to take a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. UFV put together a late surge to get within a single point, at 22-21, but a kill by de Greeff followed by an ace from Rein set up match point, with de Greeff eventually finishing it off with a kill. 
 
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 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 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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