CALGARY, Alberta – After winning in five sets Friday night the No.7 Trinity Western Spartans had to settle for a split with the Calgary Dinos after a 3-0 loss Saturday afternoon at the Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary, Alta. The 25-21, 25-19, 26-24 loss drops the Spartans to 10-6, while the win improves the Dinos to 6-10.
Second-year outside Piers De Greeff (Victoria, B.C.) with 13 kills, and two blocks, third-year outside Kaden Schmidt (Mississauga, Ont.) with 11 kills, and four digs, and fourth-year middle Cory Schoenherr (Waterloo, Ont.) with three kills, three blocks, and three aces led the Spartans.
Tyler Funk with 11 kills, and two blocks, Louis Kunstmann with eight kills, and four blocks, and Jackson Meier with six kills, and seven blocks led the Dinos.
Fourth-year setter Anselm Rein finished with 25 set assists running the Spartans’ attack, while Calgary setter Zack Durrant finished with 26 set assists for the Dinos.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now return to BC for a home-and-home series with the Fraser Valley Cascades, on Thursday, February 6 at 7 p.m. (PT) at the Langley Events Centre, and Friday, February 7 at 6 p.m. (PT) at the UFV Athletic Centre. Both games are streamed live on Canada West TV.
QUOTABLE Trinity Western Head Coach Adam Schriemer
“Always a fun time playing in the Jack Simpson gymnasium, a premier venue here in Calgary. Three matches in a row where we win the match based on our terminal serve which I think is great because that’s been pretty good and stuff that we can control. But I do think over the last 15 sets we played, the majority of the match our opponents probably were better than us in the first ball and then transition phase. So I do think we had to clean that up. And I do think we were great in first ball, but our opponents that just really tough to score against. Sorry, they weren’t really tough to stop. So I think we got to clean up some things with our block D to see if we could slow down the middles and their offsides a bit. But a gutsy one on the road so we’re happy about it.”
AS IT HAPPENED
The first set had the Spartans take an early 5-3 after a kill by Kaden Schmidt. However, Calgary responded with a 7-4 run, highlighted by a service ace from Zack Durrant to take a 10-7 lead. After exchanging points De Greeff contributed two service aces to cut the score to 20-19. But Calgary used a 5-2 run to close out the first set 25-21.
The second set had Calgary take an early 12-8 lead, prompting a timeout by TWU. Despite efforts by the Spartans, including two kills from John Obi, Calgary maintained their advantage, extending their lead to 22-16. Calgary closed out the set with side-out play and after a kill by Tyler Funk, earned a 25-19 set win to go up 2-0.
In the third set, Calgary built a modest lead at 5-3 after a series of attack errors from Trinity Western, but the Spartans rallied to tie the game at 6-6. The set saw a tight contest with both teams exchanging points, reaching a 19-19 deadlock after Kaden Schmidt’s kill. Despite a service ace by Jackson Corneil giving Trinity Western a brief 21-20 lead, Calgary ultimately clinched the set 26-24, with Tyler Funk delivering decisive kills in the final moments.
NOTABLE
The Spartans finished the night hitting at .241 (36-16-83), while the Dinos finished at .456 (43-7-79).
Calgary had a 9-4 edge in blocks
The Spartans had the edge in service aces 8-3.
The Spartans beat the Dinos 3-2 Friday night.
TWU is currently 55-29 lifetime against the Dinos.
The Canada West medal winners and host Brandon all have spots at this year’s U SPORTS championships.
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. 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 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.
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