Scheduled Game: SASKATCHEWAN*

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GAME RESULTS 1 2 3 4 T Saskatchewan 25 12 19 20 1 Trinity Western 22 25 25 25 3 « FINAL

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Game Recap

MENS VOLLEYBALL (CANADA WEST)
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2010
TWU SPARTANS (3) VS THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN HUSKIES (1)
(22-25, 25-12, 25-19, 25-20)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPARTANS RALLY TO TAKE HUSKIES IN FOUR

LANGLEY, British Columbia – Led by leftside Steven Marshall of Abbotsford, B.C., with 12 kills and 14 digs, the Trinity Western University men’s volleyball team rallied to defeat the visiting University of Saskatchewan Huskies 3-1 Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The Spartans, who fell 25-22 in the first set, before taking the next three 25-12, 25-19, 25-20, move to 9-6 with the win, will the loss drops the Huskies to 6-9.

“The guys were energized and really anxious play the game, but we had a little bit of hangover from our Winnipeg matches and we weren’t quite sure of ourselves. Our passes were a little off the net, the sets were a little slow, the hitters were a little hesitant and the blockers were a little passive and Saskatchewan came out aggressive,” commented TWU head coach Ben Josephson on his teams slow start. “But after the first set our guys made the adjustments, tightened up their game a little bit, got more aggressive and more intentional and those blocks that went through in the first set were going down. The hits that were missing hands, hit hands and the balls that were dug hit the floor.”

Leftside Marc Howatson of Victoria with 10 kills, eight digs, three blocks and one ace and leftside Paul Lindemulder of Calgary with nine kills, three digs, three blocks and two aces were also strong for the Spartans, while rightside Matt Busse of Outlook, Sask with 11 kills and eight digs and leftside Jeffrey Grant of Saskatoon with eight kills, four digs and two blocks led the Huskies.

The Spartans start the match leading 8-4 at the first break, but the Huskies gathered momentum in the middle of the set and only trailed by one 16-15 at the break. The two teams matched each other to 18-18. Then Saskatchewan took over the set and closed it out with a 7-4 run to take the opener 25-22. The Huskies finished the set hitting 26.9 percent, while the Spartans finished at 17.9 percent.

It was a totally different Spartan team that opened the second set. TWU dominated the game as Howatson served ten straight times to lead the Spartans to a 10-0 lead. The Spartans extended the lead to 12 at the second break leading 16-4. The Huskies broke the ten point barrier late in the set, but fell 25-12 as TWU evened up the match 1-1. Saskatchewan could not get their attack going as they hit at negative 13.8 percent to TWU’s 15 percent.

The third set was even through the first break, with TWU up 8-7. But the Spartans gained control in the middle of the set to lead 16-12 at the second break. TWU maintained at least a three point margin through the remainder of the set as they took the third set 25-19. The Huskies got into positive numbers in the third at 2.6 percent, but still trailed the Spartans attack at 29 percent.

The momentum continued for TWU through the fourth set as the Spartans took the first four points on their way to8-4 and 16-9 leads at the two media timeouts. The deficit was too great for the Huskies as the Spartans took the set 25-20 and the match 3-1. In the final set TWU hit at 23 percent, while Saskatchewan his at 5.4 percent.

The two teams will match up again tomorrow night at 7 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.

Tonight’s match was broadcasted live on SpartanTV at goSpartans.ca

Match Notes: TWU finished the match hitting at 22 percent, while Saskatchewan finished at 4.6 percent…the Huskies had five team blocks to the Spartans 14 team blocks…TWU had five aces to Saskatchewan’s one…

-TW-

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