LANGLEY, British Columbia – Coming off a three-set loss to No. 5 Brandon on Friday night, the No. 3 Trinity Western men's volleyball team bounced back Saturday and returned the favour to the Bobcats, winning 3-0 (25-23, 25-15, 25-22) at the Langley Events Centre.
Despite somewhat of a slow start and trailing the Bobcats (9-3) for the majority of the first set, the Spartans (8-4) came back late to claim the first set. The Spartans commanded the following two sets, never letting the Bobcats gain a large lead, and earned an impressive win in short order.
Setter Adam Schreimer (Winnipeg) got the start and he guided the TWU offence, collecting 40 assists. Nick Del Bianco (Langley) led the Spartans with a match-high 18 kills, also earning three blocks and a service ace. Teammate Blake Scheerhoorn (Belleville, Ont.) had seven kills and two blocks while Ryan Sclater (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) had eight kills and two blocks. Tyler Koslowsky (Abbotsford, B.C.) led the game with 12 digs.
"I thought we played like a team today and that was different from last night," said Spartans coach Ben Josephson. "As a team you can deal with adversity well and you can have somebody fail and someone else can pick them up. I didn't think that we were together yesterday and I thought today we were. Everybody found ways to support each other's missed plays. They were a great team yesterday and today we were also a great team. Today it was two good volleyball teams playing and I'm really happy with our response."
For the Bobcats, it was Frank Jones that led the team with eight kills and two blocks. Sebastien Steigmeier had six kills, three blocks, three aces and two digs.
TWU had nine team blocks while Brandon was held to just three. The Spartans hit .386 percent compared to the Bobcats who hit .187 percent.
In the first set, Brandon earned the early lead, taking a 14-9 advantage and then a 16-12 lead heading into the technical timeout. The Spartans tied it up at 19-19 before an ace from Del Bianco put the Spartans ahead 22-21. The Spartans continued their momentum the rest of the way and earned the first set, 25-23.
The second set had the Spartans with the early lead, working off the momentum of the previous set win. Heading into the technical time out, the Spartans were up 16-12. The Spartans gained the biggest lead of the game so far at 23-13 after going on a seven-point run. A kill from Scheerhoorn put the Spartans at set point and a serve into the net from the Bobcats ended the set at 25-15. The Spartans hit .636 percent in the second set compared to Brandon who hit .200 percent.
The Spartans had command of the set early on, leading the Bobcats all the way up to 8-7, however Brandon tied it up at 8-8 before taking a momentary lead. The Spartans went into technical timeout up by a single point 16-15. The teams stayed within two points as they neared the end of the set, but it was TWU who managed to gain the last lead. A final kill by Sclater ended the game at 25-22.
"The team had a long players only meeting today and I don't know who stepped up and led in that scenario but collectively they all stepped up and turned the page. I think it was a full group effort. It felt like we played as one."
The Spartans are back in action next weekend as they take on the Calgary Dinos on Nov. 28 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 29 at 7 p.m. Both games are hosted at the Langley Events Centre. Brandon returns home to host Regina.
Game Notes: TWU had 42 assists to Brandon's 32…TWU also had a 31-27 advantage in digs…both teams had three aces.
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