LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 3 Trinity Western Spartans claimed their second win of the weekend against the Calgary Dinos, winning 3-0 (25-11, 25-18, 25-21) Saturday night the Langley Events Centre.
The Spartans (10-4) were strong from the start, easily claiming the first set to spark what was a short night for TWU. The Dinos (5-9) were sharper in both the second and third sets, but the Spartans looked like they were always going to earn a three-set win.
Nick Del Bianco (Surrey, B.C.) put his talent on display, leading both his team and the game with 15 kills, four service aces, seven digs and four blocks. Del Bianco, who had seven aces Friday, had three straight aces in the first frame to set the tone for the rest of the night.
"Tonight, Nick wanted to make he was sharp from start to finish," said Spartans coach Ben Josephson. "I thought he had a great resolve and his decision making was awesome. He managed the tough spots really well. He was dialed in. I thought he passed really well and he had a couple of amazing solo blocks. That was probably the most complete match he's played in all phases."
Ryan Sclater (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) had 11 kills, two aces, five digs and a block. Setter Adam Schriemer (Winnipeg) had a match-high of 34 assists.
Both Calgary's Keith West and Braden O'Toole put up six kills for the Dinos. West also contributed two blocks and five digs, while O'Toole had a service ace and seven digs. Setter Jackson Maris had 12 assists, one kill, one block and two digs.
TWU outhit Calgary in every set. Ending the game with .372 percent compared to Calgary's .072. The Spartans had seven blocks while the Dinos had four.
"I think every phase of the game had moments where we were really good," Josephson said. "I don't think it was a complete game where all phases were clicking, other than the first set. But I was happy to see all those elements take centre stage for moments. I thought it was another tough performance. When things weren't going well, there wasn't any sort of panic or loss of focus."
The Spartans started out the first set with a five-point run, going ahead 6-2. TWU furthered the distance, moving to an eight-point lead heading into the technical timeout up 16-8. Thanks to back-to-back Spartans blocks, TWU moved 10 points ahead of the Dinos, 19-9. Del Bianco had three consecutive service aces in the set, putting the Spartans up by 14 points. A kill by Blake Scheerhoorn (Belleville, Ont.) ended the set at 25-11. The Spartans hit .542 percent while the Dinos hit -.048. TWU put up two blocks in the set, while Calgary was held without a block.
The Spartans and Dinos battled for the lead at the start of the second set. After the Dinos gained a brief advantage, the Spartans tied it up at 6-6 after an ace from Sclater. The Spartans pulled ahead after that, distancing themselves by five points at 14-9. The Spartans went on a six-point run to leave them at set point, 24-16, before passing off a few more points to the Dinos. TWU finished off the set at 25-18. Both teams earned three blocks during the set.
Calgary started the third set with a six-point run, moving quickly to a score of 7-2. TWU made up some ground, and answered with a run of their own, tying the set up at 10-10 before concluding their seven-point run at 14-11. The two teams continued to keep it a close game as they neared the end of the set, but the Spartans managed to maintain their lead, ending the set and match at 25-21.
TWU is off until the spring semester when it will play on the road against Regina Jan. 9-10. Calgary still has two matches left as it will play Mount Royal next week.
Game Notes: The Spartans are now 4-1 in three-set matches…their only 3-0 loss came against Brandon…TWU had eight aces and 10 errors while Calgary had four aces and eight errors.