BOX SCORE

CALGARY – In a rematch of the 2010 national final and the 2011 CIS semi-final, the No. 1-ranked Trinity Western Spartans had little trouble getting past the No. 7 Calgary Dinos Friday night, taking a 3-0 decision (25-18, 25-18, 25-23) in the Jack Simpson Gym.

Hitting at a businesslike 24.7 per cent efficiency while holding the Dinos to just 8.6 per cent, the Spartans had a block party at the Calgary net, recording 17 stuffs on the night – accounting for more than two thirds of Calgary's hitting errors in the match.

Trinity Western improves to 16-1 on the year, while Calgary drops to 9-8. Despite the loss, however, the Dinos clinched a playoff spot in Canada West thanks to other action around the conference.

The first set opened tightly, but with the Dinos ahead 8-7 Lucas Van Berkel stepped back to serve for the defending CIS champion Spartans. He reeled off six straight, and when Ivan Kartev finally ended the run it was 12-9 for the visitors. That margin continued to grow from there as the blocks just kept coming from Trinity Western, and before long it was 21-12. Calgary gamely fought its way back to close the gap, but in the end it was just too much to overcome as the Spartans took a 25-18 decision.

The second set had hardly begun, but the Spartans had jumped out to a 7-1 lead to force a Calgary time out – thanks in part to an ace by Steven Marshall and two by Dan Jansen Van Doorn. From there the set was more evenly played, but again it ended in a 25-18 win for the Spartans.

Things started well for the Dinos in the third, jumping out to a 5-2 lead. Again, however, it was a block that changed the momentum as Jansen Van Doorn and Rudy Verhoeff combined to deny Chris Hoag. Another ace tied it at 5-5, and a frustrating night for the Dinos continued as they found themselves trailing 23-16. Five straight serves by Graham Vigrass cut into that deficit, and Calgary brought the score within one point at 24-23 – but Jansen Van Doorn put down his seventh kill of the night to secure match point with a 25-23 win.

Steven Marshall led with nine kills for TWU, followed by Jansen Van Doorn's seven and six from Verhoeff. The Verhoeff-Jansen Van Doorn combination was especially effective defensively at the net, combining to record 10 of the Spartans' 17 blocks on the night.

Middle Ivan Kartev was a bright spot for the Dinos, when they were able to get him the ball. The 7-foot-1 Frenchman delivered a team-high eight kills and no errors on 10 attempts, while Greg Mann chipped in with seven kills. Vigrass was largely ineffective on the night with two kills and five errors, while Hoag also found himself in negative territory. Allen Meek joined Kartev and Mann as the only Dinos with more than one attempt to finish in positive territory offensively.

Calgary will look to regroup and display a better effort in the series closer. The rematch goes Saturday night in the Jack as the Dinos recognize their fifth-year and graduating players in a pre-game ceremony. First serve is scheduled for 8 p.m. MT, live on CanadaWest.tv.

-UC-