Game Recap
Men’s Volleyball (League)
Saturday, February 3, 2001
TWU Spartans (3) vs. the University of Winnipeg Wesmen (1)
(25-21, 25-18, 33-35, 25-23)
Spartans End Season with a Bang
Langley, British Columbia – For the second time in the last two weekends the Trinity Western University men’s volleyball has swept their Canada West opponent. The Spartans completed their second sweep with a 3-1 (25-21, 25-18, 33-35, 25-23) victory over the University of Winnipeg Wesmen Saturday night at Trinity Western University.
“It is a great way to end the season. I’m really happy with the guys,” said TWU head coach Ron Pike “They put in a good semester and are really starting to play well on our home court.”
The Spartans dominated the early part of the match to go up 2-0. But the Wesmen are ranked 8th in the CIAU and they were not about to lose without a fight. The Wesmen rallied to win the 3rd set slugfest 35-33.
“Teams have to play well to beat us here, because we are not going to beat ourselves,” said Pike.
At the start of the 4th set it looked like the match was headed to five sets as the Wesmen jumped out to a quick 9-3 lead. But Luke Bainard (3rd yr, OH, Brooklin, ON) and Mark Huberts (4th yr, M, Cloverdale, BC) – 4 kills, 3 blocks, were not about to lose in their gym tonight. The team leaders led by example as the Spartans rallied for a stunning 25-23 victory. Huberts serving brought the Spartans back from being down 12-8 to being with in 1 point 12-11.
“Mark Huberts deserves a lot of the credit for our wins this weekend,” said Pike. “He really stepped up and made some key plays. He served well, had timely blocks and made the kills when we needed them.”
Luke Bainard’s offensive play finished of the match as he led the team in the 4th set with 8 kills and 2 service aces. Bainard ended the match with an impressive 24 kills on 51.4% efficiency and 5 service aces.
“Luke Bainard just demolished the sophomore jinx,” said Pike. “I really think that the number of practices he missed first semester impacted his play. This semester he is jumping higher and swinging freely which makes him more effective, because if you have to reach up to block Luke he can be devastating.”
The Wesmen were led by Jason Dufault (2nd yr, OS, Winnipeg, MB) – 13 kills, 6 digs and Lee J. Montgomery (4th yr, OS, Winnipeg, MB) – 12 kills, 4 digs and 3 service aces.
The Spartans end the season on a high note with 4 wins in their last 5 matches. Tonight’s win moves the Spartans to 6-16 and 5th place in Canada West.
“Who knows with this years experience and some hard off season training, our guys might be able to do some things next season,” said Pike.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL SCOTT STEWART AT (604) 513-2123
