LANGLEY, B.C. – The No. 2 Trinity Western Spartans prevailed 3-1 in a four-set battle with the Calgary Dinos Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The 25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 25-21 win improves the Spartans to 6-0, while the loss drops the Dinos to 2-4.
 
Fourth year outside Kaden Schmidt finished with 22 kills, six digs, and three aces for TWU, while second-year setter Willem Van Huizen added nine kills, seven assists, five blocks, four digs, and three aces.

Cole Czepuryk finished the night with 12 kills, and six digs, and Will Kay added nine kills and four blocks to led the Dinos.

Fifth-year setter Anselm Rein, with 44 set assists, led the Spartans' attack, while rookie Matthew Brown led the Dinos with 18 assists.

The Spartans had a strong start to the match and established their end-line attack, taking an early 8-5 lead after a Cory Schoenherr ace and putting the Dinos into a timeout. Out of the break, the Dinos took three straight points, and after an ace from Czepuryk, had tied the set at 8-8. TWU regained the momentum and used a 9-4 run to take a 17-12 lead after a kill from Van Huizen. The Spartans continued to roll through the set and took a 1-0 lead with a 25-19 first-set win. TWU hit at .310 (14-5-29), while Calgary hit at .143 (9-5-28).
 
Trinity Western looked like they were running away with the second set as they jumped out to a 17-10 lead after a Schoenherr kill. But the Dinos responded and used an 8-1 run to tie the set at 18-18 after a Matthew Brown ace. The two teams played side-out ball to 23-23. The Dinos then evened up the match with a 25-23 win by taking the final two points on a Cam Hutt kill and a TWU attack error. TWU hit at .217 (11-6-23), while Calgary hit at .263 (9-4-19).
 
The third set started similarly to the second, with TWU taking a six-point lead, 14-8, after back-to-back Calgary attack errors. But the Dinos climbed back into the set with an 8-2 run to tie the set at 16-16. TWU regained control with a 5-2 run to take a 21-18 lead after a Zach Yewchuk kill. But two straight Dino points made it a one-point game, 21-20. A Schmidt kill and an Anselm ace put TWU back up three points, 23-20. The Spartans got to set point after a Schmidt kill, 24-21. The Dinos held off one set point before Schmidt finished the set to put TWU up 25-22 and 2-1 in sets. TWU hit at .176 (13-7-34), while Calgary hit at .147 (11-6-34).
 
The fourth set was evenly played till 18-18. TWU got a two-point lead, 19-17, after a Dmitruk kill. The teams exchanged points, then the Spartans got to set point, with second-year middle Zach Yewchuk recording a kill to put TWU up 24-21. Schmidt then finished off the set, 25-21, and the match 3-1 with the final kill of the night. The two teams had their best attack sets of the night with TWU finishing at .424 (19-5-33) and Calgary at .308 (10-2-26).
 
The Spartans finished the night hitting at .286 (57-23-119), while the Dinos finished at .206 (39-17-107).

Dinos had the edge in blocks 10-8.5, while the Spartans had the advantage in digs 35-32, and service aces 10-5.
 
-UC-