Less than 24 hours after beating No. 3 Manitoba in a four-setter, the Trinity Western men’s volleyball team lost in the rematch with the Bisons in three sets, falling 25-16, 25-23, 25-16 Saturday afternoon at Investors Group Athletic Centre.
The Bisons (13-3) hit .384 as a team and collected 12 blocks in the three-set match to outpace the Spartans.
TWU (9-9) was held to a .163 attacking percentage and had only seven blocks in the afternoon tilt.
Ryan Sclater (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) had a team-high 12 kills while Blake Scheerhoorn (Belleville, Ont.) added 11 kills.
Setter Devyn Plett (Winnipeg) had just 21 assists while Adam Schriemer (Winnipeg), who came off the bench to play much of the third set, had eight assists.
Manitoba’s Devren Dear had a match-high 15 kills and 14 digs Ken Rooney added 10 kills and a match-high eight blocks.
“It was a tough one tonight and the guys looked pretty flat,” said Spartans coach Ben Josephson. “When you beat a good team, you expect a great response and I think we saw that from Manitoba and obviously we didn’t have the right mindset to deal with the intensity that they brought to that match. I thought it was a good lesson on how hard you need to focus on the details to earn some tough points. We talked a lot about what the playoff feel is like and this had a playoff feel. We took the first swing last night and they swung back today.”
Midway through the first set, the Bisons took six straight points to build a 16-9 lead at the technical timeout. The teams traded points for the rest of the set, but the Spartans couldn’t catch the home team.
Dear had six kills in the set alone and Adam DeJonckheere, Kevin Falconer and Rooney put up three kills each. DeJonckheere earned two straight kills to give Manitoba a 23-15 advantage before the Bisons took the set 25-16.
The Spartans led for most of the second set, but Manitoba’s Dear tied the game at 18-18 with a kill. He gave Manitoba the lead on the next rally with another kill, and, minutes later, DeJonckheere won the set 25-23 with a kill of his own.
The Bisons started the third set with a 3-0 lead and stayed ahead for the rest of the game.
With Manitoba capitalizing on TWU errors, the Bisons took a 16-9 lead at the technical timeout.
TWU held Manitoba at match point for three straight points – thanks to two kills from Leigh Goossen (Kelowna, B.C.) and a Bison attack error – but Josh Crellin won it for the Bisons with a kill on the next rally. Manitoba took the set 25-16.
“Taking a split against a good team like Manitoba is a positive result and moves us a step closer to making the playoffs,” Josephson said. “Performing like this is a bit of a concern, but we have two weeks to get ready for our next weekend. Heading into the final quarter of the season, we have motivation and commitment and conviction.”
The Spartans will have a bye next week before hosting UBC Okanagan Feb. 5-6.
Special “thanks” to
Mark Janzen Assistant Sports Information Director, Trinity Western University
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