BOX SCORE

CALGARY – Their hosts came out with a much better effort Saturday, but the result was the same as the No. 1 Trinity Western University Spartans completed their sweep of the Calgary Dinos with a 3-1 (25-22, 20-25, 25-23, 25-18) win in the Jack Simpson Gym.

The win improves the defending CIS champions' record to 17-1 on the year, while Calgary falls even to 9-9. The Dinos are in the playoffs, but the race for fourth spot and the coveted hosting spot it brings with it will go on to the final week of the season. Brandon, UBC, and Calgary all have a shot at fourth spot, and two of those teams are guaranteed to play each other in the Canada West quarterfinal. The four teams at the Canada West Final Four will all advance to the CIS championship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ont.

For their part, the Spartans inched that much closer to securing top spot in the conference and hosting rights for that Final Four. And they did it on the back of an excellent performance from Rudy Verhoeff, who pounded 20 kills to lead all players on the night.

After a pre-game ceremony where the Dinos recognized their five fifth-year seniors – Graham Vigrass, Allen Meek, Jay Blankenau, Levi Nutma, and Jace Richards – along with their two graduating fourth-year players, Andrew Visser and Chris Hoag, Calgary came out much better from the outset than they had in Friday night's straight-sets Spartans victory. Vigrass had five kills in the opener, but so did Verhoeff – and the Spartans' 6.5 stuff blocks proved the difference as TWU emerged with a 25-22 win.

The Dinos turned it on at the midway point of set two, turning a one-point lead at 15-14 into a 19-14 advantage thanks to some great serving from Blankenau. That margin would be enough for the Dinos, who hit 28.1 per cent in the set to knot the match up at 1-1.

The third was a neck-and-neck affair, with neither team able to pull away. Calgary took a 23-22 lead in the late stages, but again the Spartan block came up big. Dan Jansen Van Doorn rejected Vigrass to tie it at 23, followed by a Nutma attack into the waiting block of Jansen Van Doorn and Verhoeff. Playing his final CIS game in his hometown, Verhoeff iced the 25-23 win for the Spartans with one of his many kills on the night.

Calgary led through the early stages of the fourth set, but the wheels fell off for the Dinos after a Vigrass kill made it 11-6. Steven Marshall embarked on a long serving run for TWU, and when Vigrass finally scored again for Calgary the Spartans had scored nine straight points to take a 15-11 lead. Seemingly out of gas, the Dinos were unable to muster anything further and  Trinity Western put it on autopilot from there, cruising to the 25-18 win.

Verhoeff's 20 kills were joined by 11 from Marshall and 10 each from Marc Howatson and Lucas Van Berkel for the Spartans, while libero Jarrod Offereins was sensational in recording 10 digs. Jansen Van Doorn had a hand in no fewer than nine blocks, while Verhoeff figured in six.

Calgary's Vigrass closed the book on his home career with another impressive outing, scoring 18 kills after a sub-par performance Friday. Meek and Nutma added eight apiece, while Chris Hoag managed seven to go with his match-high 12 digs. Middle Ivan Kartev was solid defensively, getting a hand in eight of Calgary's 9.5 blocks on the night.

The Spartans will look to clinch first place next weekend when they host crosstown rival UBC at the Langley Events Centre. Calgary, meanwhile, will look to secure a home playoff date as they head to Regina for a two-game set with the Cougars.

-UC-