LANGLEY, British Columbia – With left
side Nick Del Bianco (Surrey, B.C.) returning from injury after
missing the last five matches, the Spartans star fifth-year led
Trinity Western's men's volleyball team to a 3-2 (26-24, 25-19,
23-25, 19-25, 15-7) win Friday at the Langley Events Centre.
The first two sets went the Spartans way, however Manitoba
answered back with a pair of wins of their own before the Spartans
hammered out the fifth and final set to claim the game.
Del Bianco's presence in the game was obvious as he led TWU in
kills with 21 and was instrumental in the fifth set as he collected
five kills, including the Spartans final two points. Del Bianco
also added 11 digs, four blocks and two aces.
Tyler Koslowsky (Abbotsford, B.C.) had a game-high 17 digs while
on the Spartans offensive side, Blake Scheerhoorn (Belleville,
Ont.) had 17 kills and one ace and Ryan Sclater (Port Coquitlam,
B.C.) had 15 kills. The Spartan defense was led by Branden Schmidt
(De Winton, Alta.) who put up a total of eight blocks, while also
making seven kills and an ace. Setter Scott Plocktis (Kelowna,
B.C.) had 54 assists.
For the Bisons it was Devren Dear who led the team. Dear had a
match-high 27 kills as well as a team-high 13 digs. Adam
DeJonckheere was second on the Bisons with 15 kills. Setter Luke
Herr had a match-high 55 assists.
Dating back to the 2012 Canada West gold medal match, five of the
last six times these two teams played, the match has gone to five
sets.
"Five sets is just what they do, they don't go away," said
Spartans coach Ben Josephson. "You think you're playing fine and
you look up and they're one or two points back. That's just what
they do, they don't get rattled and they make plays. Number four
(Devren Dear) is a third year now and he's really developed well
and number eight (DeJonckheere) is a junior national kid. Garth
(Pischke, head coach) has won the most games in volleyball North
America. There's a reason for it, if you have him on your bench,
you're calm."
The first set began with both teams at full intensity. It was the
Spartans though that established the early lead. Manitoba managed
to work its way back from the deficit though, coming back midway
through the set and driving the score to a tight one point
difference. The two teams were tied at 24-24 before the Spartans
came back swinging and claimed the set 26-24. Del Bianco had five
kills for the Spartans during the set, while Scheerhoorn offered up
four. TWU hit .424 during the set, coming in above Manitoba who had
.360.
The Spartans were up early on in the second set, once again
putting a decent distance between them and the Bisons. Much like
the first set however, Manitoba came back and evened the score.
After getting a leg back up, TWU pulled ahead 23-19, before
claiming the match 25-19 following a Manitoba serving error. During
the set, the Spartans added 5.5 more blocks to their total, while
the Bisons added 4. Scheerhoorn hit another five kills while both
Del Bianco and Sclater had three. Schmidt blocked five of the
Bisons attempts.
The tides seemed as if they'd changed in the third set, as
Manitoba began by tallying the first few points against the
Spartans. The scoring against TWU continued until midway through
the set, when the Spartans were able to move into the lead 16-15.
The one-point lead didn't last long however, as the Bisons came
back and took back the lead. Manitoba finished the set quickly
after that, 25-23. Each team only gained one block during the set.
Del Bianco and Sclater each added five more kills to the Spartans
total.
The fourth set shaped up much like the others, with TWU and
Manitoba proving to be well-matched opponents. The two teams stayed
tight in scoring, keeping each other within two points throughout
the first half of the set. Manitoba kicked it up a gear in the last
half of the set however, using its momentum to drive the score up
in its favor before claiming the set 25-19. Both teams earned two
blocks in the set. Scheerhoorn hit four kills, while Sclater and
Del Bianco both had three.
In the fifth set, TWU got the lead and quickly drove up the score,
keeping Manitoba well behind them. TWU didn't let up until their
goal was accomplished, hitting .733 in the final set and winning
15-7. Del Bianco made his return even sweeter by finishing off the
night with the game-winning kill. In addition to the game winner,
Del Bianco hit four other kills. Scheerhoorn tallied three more
kills as well as a service ace.
"In the third and fourth set we got lulled into playing a bit of
their game, and they out scrapped us," Josephson said. "In the
fifth set, Nick Del Bianco did what he does. Nick raised this game
in the fifth set; otherwise I don't think we did anything
different. Scotty (Plocktis) was smart and gave him the ball.
Branden (Schmidt) had a great serving game. Statistically the
difference was, the first two sets we served them into trouble and
we had a lot of result on blocking and they didn't hit as well. In
the fourth set they passed well and their efficiency went through
the roof. In the fifth set again we had a bunch of awesome
serves."
The two teams will meet in a rematch Saturday at 7 p.m. at the
Langley Events Centre.
Game Notes: TWU had 9.5 blocks to Manitoba's nine…TWU had a
6-5 edge in aces…it was setter Plocktis' first start of the
season.
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