HEAVY WEIGHT MATCH UP NO. 1 SPARTANS HOST NO. 3 GOLDEN BEARS AT DAVID E.

LANGLEY, British Columbia - Trinity Western returns to Canada West action with a bang as they host the No. 3 University of Alberta Golden Bears. Historically the No. 1 Spartans and the Bears conference matches have gone a long way in determining who will finish on top of the Canada West conference at the end of the season. This year is no different as the teams are both ranked in the top three in the CIS. Match times are set for 8 p.m Friday and 7 p.m. Saturday.

Note: there will not be a video stream available for this weekend's matches. Live Stats are available at Canada West.TV

Trinity Western Spartans (10-0)
Last Weekend: Queens 3-0 W, 3-1 W
2012 CIS Rank: No. 1
2010-2011 CW Record: 13-5
2010-2011 CW Tournament: 3-1, 3rd
2010-2011 CIS Tournament: 3-0, 1s

The Spartan men are back in action and ready to start the second semester of Canada West play with a match against the Alberta Golden Bears.  Trinity Western remains at the top of the CIS rankings after the break.

Last weekend the Spartans played a non-conference game against a CIS opponent, the Queens Gaels. The Spartans led off in the first set by edging the Gaels in a 25-23 set. In the second set the Spartans once again managed to beat out their Queens counterpart, and earned another 25-23 set win. By the third set the Spartans found themselves trailing the Gaels 16-13 at the technical break, but bounced back quickly to earn the 25-22 set win and sweep the match.

Rudy Verhoeff led both teams with 13 kills on the night, while Jarrod Offerins contributed with 11 digs.

In the rematch on the following night, the Gaels would not be beaten so easily. The Spartan team took the first set 25-22, but in the second set the two teams battled to an exhausting 36-34 Queen`s victory. After this effort, the Spartans regained their momentum to take the final two sets 25-19 and 25-20.

The Spartans will put their perfect conference record on the line in their games against the Golden Bears.

University of Alberta Golden Bears (8-2)
Last Weekend: UBC 3-1 W, 3-0 L
2012 CIS Rank: No. 3
2010-2011 CW Record: 17-1
2010-2011 CW Tournament: 0-2
2010-2011 CIS Tournament: 2-1, 5th

The Golden Bears look to maintain their form after a month-long break. Going into the second part of the season, the Golden Bears remain at No.3 in both CIS rankings and Canada West conference play.

In the beginning of December, the Golden Bears hosted the UBC Thunderbirds for a pair of games in Edmonton. In the first game the Golden Bears cruised to a four set victory on the strength Taylor Hunt`s 14 kill night. Alberta won the first two sets with scores of 25-21 and 25-18 in the first and second sets, respectively. Despite a misstep in set three which led to Alberta falling 25-17, the Golden Bears regained their focus and finished the night with a 25-15 win over the Thunderbirds.

The second night was a completely different story for both teams. Despite impressive performances from Mitch Irvine with 18 kills, and Jarron Mueller with 38 assists, the Golden Bears were unable to overcome the Thunderbirds and found themselves on the wrong end of a 3-0 match. The Thunderbirds took the first set 25-20, then pulled off a pair of 25-23 wins to finish the weekend.

The Golden Bears last played the Spartans in the CIS National quarter-final in 2011, when the Spartans advanced on the strength of a 3-2 win.

Last Updated: 2012-01-13
Author: Scott Stewart
Email: ssstew@twu.ca