LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 3 Trinity Western men's volleyball team took Game 1 of its Canada West best-of-three quarter-final series against No. 10 Thompson Rivers with a 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-18, 25-20) victory Thursday at the Langley Events Centre.
With the Spartans collecting 10 service aces, earning 13 blocks and largely holding the reigning CIS Player of the Year, TRU's Brad Gunter, under wraps – he finished with 14 kills – TWU picked up its 14th consecutive win and moved within one victory of the Canada West Final Four.
Game 2 is Friday at 8 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre. Game 3, if necessary, is Saturday.
The Spartans were led by Nick Del Bianco (Surrey, B.C.), who had 16 kills while also nabbing three aces and 10 digs. Ryan Sclater (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) had 11 kills to go with four aces while Blake Scheerhoorn (Belleville, Ont.) had 10 kills. Tyler Koslowsky (Abbotsford, B.C.) had a team-high 15 digs and Daniel Grant (Chetwynd, B.C.) had a match-high six blocks. Adam Schriemer (Winnipeg) had 34 assists.
For TRU, it was Casey Knight with a team-high 15 kills. Matt Krueger had a team-high 15 digs. Graham Stoliker had a match-high 42 assists.
TRU finished with 63 digs to the TWU's 40, but just five aces and only 3.5 blocks.
"That went according to script," said Spartans coach Ben Josephson. "They dug and played with amazing intensity and heart and toughness and we imposed our physicality enough times in the match to win some really important points. I think we won the serve and pass battle and, if we do that, our physicality matters. That was probably the key to tonight's game."
There's no doubt that keeping Gunter, who averaged 4.57 kills per set in the regular season, from finding momentum was also a key part of the Spartans win.
"They weren't in good situations enough to get him going," Josephson said. "Our serving was tough enough, especially in the first and third sets. Brad never had a chance to get good rhythm sets and our blockers are big. He didn't have enough time to calibrate his shots. The problem for us is that now he's seen the block and has calibrated and he's too good to be off two nights in a row. We're just thankful that we got one night before he heated up."
The Spartans got off to a strong start in the opening set and after a pair of aces from Sclater, took a 17-11 lead. From there, TWU kept on rolling and, with his fourth ace of the set, Sclater earned the winning point, with the Spartans taking the set by six points.
TRU turned the tables in the second set and went up 11-7. The Spartans got back to within one point at 13-12, but a kill from Stuart Richey quickly reestablished the WolfPack's two-point lead, at 15-13. The Spartans made it 24-23 late, but a kill from Knight finished the set in the visitor's favour.
The WolfPack raced out to a 4-0 lead in the third set, only to see TWU respond with a 7-0 run. After that, the Spartans never trailed and they ran away with it late, winning by seven. A WolfPack service error gave TWU the 25-18 win.
After an early 4-4 tie in the fourth set, TWU opened a 10-6 lead and held an edge the rest of the way. A massive WolfPack block made it a one-point game at 13-12, but TWU quickly responded and a block from Boettcher put the Spartans up 18-15. A Grant ace put TWU on match-point and then Boettcher buried the winning kill at 25-20.
"Aaron did a great job," Josephson said of Boettcher, who was playing in his first ever home game with TWU. "The team felt super confident in him because he's just tough as nails. He's so hard on himself in practice and is such a perfectionist. That type of attitude prepares him. He didn't get rattled. It was awesome to see him respond well."
Game Notes: The Spartans are now 5-2 against TRU this year, including preseason, regular season, exhibition and playoff games…the last time TRU beat the Spartans in Langley was Nov. 5, 2010 when TRU won a five-setter…Boettcher was playing in place of the injured Branden Schmidt (De Winton, Alta.).
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