LANGLEY, B.C. – The Trinity Western Spartans rode wins in three-straight sets (25-15, 25-18, 25-18) on route to their second win in as many nights against the MacEwan Griffins Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.
First-year Mathias Elser (Calgary) contributed 35 assists and five digs to guide TWU’s offence, while second-year Brodie Hofer (Langley) had a game-high 10 kills for TWU in the win. Fellow second-year Jesse Elser (Calgary) had a team-high 12 points, including nine kills, two aces, two blocks and six digs.
Pearce Eshenko (Banff, Alta.) had an error-free night on the attack with six kills on 12 attacks.
Jefferson Morrow led the Griffins attack with nine kills, while Jonathan Mohler had 24 assists and five digs in the loss. Max Vriend had eight kills and just one attacking error to go with three blocks.
The Spartans improved to 5-1 on the season, while the Griffins overall record fell to 1-3.
Mathias Elser led TWU to a convincing 25-15 first set win, adding 13 assists to go with two serving aces from Jacob Kern (Edmonton) in the first frame.
The Spartans then rode an identical .385 hitting percentage from the first set into the second, winning 25-18 with Elser adding another 11 assists to his tally.
TWU rounded out the game with a 25-18 third set win, as Jesse Elser added four kills and three digs in the final frame for a Spartans side that hit a match-high .579 in the set. The third set was also MacEwan’s best of the evening, as the Griffins hit .333.
QUOTABLE
Ben Josephson – TWU Head Coach
“It was a better match tonight than last night. I think MacEwan passed some of our serves better, especially after the first set and that produced a lot more volleyball situations. I was really pleased how we defended the ball. Our defensive transitions is something we worked on this week and they made us dig the ball, so I thought our defence scrambled really well. That’s a phase of our game that doesn’t always get worked and developed as well as it can. We kept the ball alive and won some really tough rallies and that’s always exciting for the teams and the fans.
“I was happy with our serving. I thought we served tough and in at the right rate. I just think MacEwan passed the ball better tonight. I think we served the ball better tonight than last night but we had less results and that’s partially on them.
“It was awesome to see Mathias get his first start and his first win. Henry came in and played great in the third set. It was great to see Jordan in back-to-back matches play really well.”
NOTABLE
• With the win, TWU improved to an all-time record of 12-0 against MacEwan.
• TWU finished with a 7-3 edge in blocks.
• It was the second straight weekend the Spartans picked up a pair of straight-set wins, after defeating Winnipeg last week (Oct. 25-26).
• The Griffins came into the weekend off a bye week after splitting games against Mount Royal to open the season.
NEXT UP
The Spartans now have a bye week before taking on Manitoba on the road in Winnipeg (Nov. 15-16).
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women’s and men’s soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women’s rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men’s hockey and as an independent team in men’s rugby. The men’s and women’s hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.
[SOURCE: Trinity Western University]