VANCOUVER, British Columbia – The Trinity Western men’s volleyball team opened the Blue-Team Cup tournament with a convincing 3-0 victory over Mount Royal Wednesday evening at War Memorial Gym in Vancouver, B.C.

The defending national champion Spartans dominated the match defeating the Cougars 25-11, 25-19, 25-17).

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ben Josephson
“It was as good game and a good start for us. The guys played very clean right off the bat and challenged MRU with good serving. We played great block defence and had commitment to our offence decision making and tempo. The things we set out to do tonight we accomplished and then got the victory as well.”
“But, it is a victory at this stage of the preseason when you can get some work in and don’t have any injuries. We got better, we learned some things and nobody got hurt.”  

NOTABLE
• The Spartans are 13-3 lifetime against the Cougars in Canada West conference and post-season play.
• TWU has not lost to MRU since November 27, 2015, when the Spartans fell 3-2 in Langley, B.C.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will continue the tournament tomorrow night against UBC Okanagan. Match time at UBC is set for 4 p.m.
 
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]