EDMONTON – The Trinity Western Spartans rallied from a set down to beat the University of Alberta Golden Bears 3-2 on Saturday night at the Saville Community Sports Centre, taking the match 20-25, 25-18, 20-25, 25-23, 15-11.
Dylan Martens led Alberta with 19 kills on .316 hitting and added seven block assists. Trent Cherewaty had eight kills, four aces, and eight block assists, Tyson DeZutter added 11 kills, and Luke Weddell handed out 42 assists. Kaden Schmidt led Trinity Western with 19 kills, while Zack Yewchuk added eight kills on .438 hitting and 10 blocks, and Willem Van Huizen had 35 assists.
Both teams are now 3-1 on the season.
Alberta took the opening set on a big run in the middle. Trinity Western led 4-1 early, but the Golden Bears scored five straight points to lead 6-4, then ripped off six more to go up 15-9 and force two Spartans timeouts. Alberta cruised from there, closing it out 25-20.
Trinity Western answered in the second set, opening on a 3-0 run and building an 8-3 lead on a seven-point stretch. The Spartans led by as many as nine, and Alberta hit just .107 in the set as the Spartans won 25-18.
The third set was tied nine times before the Golden Bears took control late. Trinity Western led 13-11, but Alberta tied it at 15 and then took the lead with the set tied 18-18, closing on a 7-2 run to win 25-20 and go up 2-1.
The fourth set was the turning point. Alberta led early before a 5-0 Spartans run put Trinity Western up 22-17. The Golden Bears rallied, cutting it to 23-22 and forcing two Spartans timeouts, and later to 24-23, but the Spartans closed it out 25-23 to force a fifth set.
Trinity Western jumped on the decider, scoring five of the first seven points to take a 4-2 lead and extending it to 7-2, forcing two Alberta timeouts. The Golden Bears closed to 7-4 and later to 14-11, but the Spartans finished it 15-11.
The teams were close in almost every category. Alberta hit .198 to Trinity Western’s .210, and both teams had five aces and more than 20 service errors. The Spartans held a 14.0 to 12.0 edge in blocks.
The Golden Bears will travel to face the Manitoba Bisons on Friday, Nov. 13, at 6 p.m. The game can be seen live on Canada West TV powered by BioSteel. Trinity Western will host the Winnipeg Wesmen on Friday, Nov. 13, at 7 p.m.