LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 3 Trinity Western men's volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to win a five-setter over Calgary (25-10, 22-25, 22-25, 25-19,15-10) Friday at the Langley Events Centre.
After the Spartans thumped the Dinos in the first set, Calgary rebounded to win back-to-back sets and put the Spartans in a rare hole on home court. However, TWU rallied and held Calgary to a .000 hitting percentage in both the fourth and fifth sets to win the match.
Ryan Sclater (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) had 10 of his team-leading 18 kills over the final two sets alone to help TWU improve to 9-4 on the season. The loss drops Calgary to 5-8.
Also leading TWU was Nick Del Bianco (Surrey, B.C.), who had 13 kills and four blocks while Daniel Grant (Chetwynd, B.C.) had a match-high nine blocks to go with seven kills. Sclater's impressive effort saw him hit .438 for the match and commit just four attacking errors. Setter Adam Schriemer (Winnipeg) had a match-high 48 assists.
For Calgary, it was Keith West leading the way with 16 kills while Braden O'Toole had 11 kills and setter Jackson Maris had a team-high six blocks to accompany his 31 assists.
The Spartans block continued to lead the way as they had 18 blocks compared to Calgary's 10.
"Early on, we didn't play the situation," said Spartans coach Ben Josephson. "We were trying to do the right things, which is what I'm asking them to do, but sometimes you have to play the situation. In poker, they say, play the man, not the cards. We didn't play the man well enough until the fourth set. Then we started play the situation of this match and then I thought we figured out how to beat our opponent tonight. Our guys adjusted some of their decisions on how we attacked their system."
The Spartans came out flying in the first set and built a 13-4 lead before rolling to a 15-point win on the strength of a .471 hitting percentage and just one attacking error. The Spartans also had four blocks and three aces as it was all TWU in the opening frame. Calgary hit -.261 and was held without a block or an ace.
"We served well in that first set and Nick had a great run and then we had four stuff blocks," Josephson said. "They had a tough time with in the first set and we were super efficient. They were just a bit off. "
However, in the second set, Calgary came to life. Hitting .308 and with West leading the way with five kills, the Dinos responded with a 25-22 win. Sclater had five kills for TWU in the set, but it was the Dinos who were able to even the match. After the Spartans Branden Schmidt (De Winton, Alta.) made it 19-18 for the home side, Calgary responded with three straight points to take a 21-19 lead. The Dinos held its lead the rest of the way and a Sean Martin kill sealed the win.
With momentum on the visitors' side, the Dinos hit .333 in the third set and had just three attacking errors as they took a 2-1 lead in sets with a three-point win. With the game tied 20-20, Calgary nabbed the next two points and then pulled away for the win. With his 11th kill of the match, West gave the Dinos the win.
"I thought we were the better team in the second and the third sets when the ball was in play," Josephson said. "The problem is that we didn't put the ball in play enough to make that matter."
In the fourth set, the Dinos held an 8-7 lead, but TWU come right back with five consecutive points to earn a 12-8 advantage. The Spartans stretched that lead to 19-13 after a Sclater kill. But Calgary didn't quit. The Dinos tallied five straight points to make it a one-point game, 19-18. But TWU finished the set with 6-1 run, capped by a Spartans block, to force a fifth set.
The Spartans opened a 5-3 lead early in the fifth set and never looked back. TWU built its advantage to four points at the switch and Calgary couldn't get any closer than three points the rest of the way. Fittingly, it was Sclater with the match-winning kill.
The two teams are back in action Saturday at 7 p.m. at the LEC.
Game Notes: TWU is now 4-2 in five-set matches this season…the Spartans hit .304 as a team while Calgary was held to .090…TWU had a 7-3 edge in aces but also committed 21 serving errors to Calgary's 15…the Spartans have now won five in a row on home court against Calgary…the last time Calgary beat TWU at home was Jan. 22, 2011 when the Dinos swept the Spartans…that year, TWU went on to win the CIS national championship.
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