SASKATOON, Saskatchewan – In an intense play-off match the Trinity Western Spartans rallied to defeat the Saskatchewan Huskies 3-2 in the opening match of the best-of-three Canada West quarter-final series Thursday night at the Physical Activity Centre in Saskatoon, Sask. The 23-25, 25-23, 24-26, 25-22, 15-13 win gives the Spartans the 1-0 series lead.
 
Third-year outside Kaden Schmidt (Mississauga, Ont.) with a career best 23 kills, five digs, two aces, and three blocks, second-year outside Piers De Greef (Victoria, B.C.) with eight kills, six digs, one block, and three aces, and fourth-year middle Cory Schoenherr (Waterloo, Ont.) with a season-best 10 kills, and five blocks led the Spartans. While Emmett Graham with 19 kills, 10 digs, and two blocks, and Jefferson Morrow with 13 kills, and 13 digs led the Huskies.
 
Fourth-year setter Anselm Rein (Erfurt, Germany) finished with 50 set assists, 11 digs, and three aces running the Spartans attack. While Noah Opseth finished with 43 assists and 12 digs for the Huskies.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Huskies will match up again tomorrow night for game two of the best-of-three quarter-final series. Match time at the Physical Activity Centre in Saskatoon, Sask. is set for 7 p.m. (CT) and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
QUOTABLE
Trinity Western Head Coach Adam Schriemer
"The buildup for this game was for good reason. I think today was an absolute grind between two good teams just going back and forth. Every set, but one, was decided by two points and it was a challenge. Not a lot of things worked for long. Both teams adjusted as the game went on. The biggest thing was I was happy to see our guys hold on for the most part with our float service reception."
 
"I thought it was great to see Anselm and our middles play that way, they can get involved with that type of passing which is a good thing for us offensively. This is playoff ball you're never really comfortable and nothing really works for long and we saw that tonight. We got our work cut out for us tomorrow and the boys that we prepared."
 
Outside hitter Kaden Schmidt on the key to the Spartans' win.
I would say, um the way that Tate [Calles, second-year libero, Anacortes, Wash.] and Kyden came in and basically took me out of the passing lineup just to allow me to free myself to just fully focus on spiking. I thought it was so huge because it saved a ton of energy and allowed me just to focus on one thing at a time,"
 
On getting ready for tomorrow's match
"We have a mantra on our team called Point Match, where all we are worrying about is the point that's currently happening or the next point. So, as long as we stay focused on that, I think we'll be in for a good game, but Sask is a really good team, so they're going to put up a good fight tomorrow, they're going to make some changes, and we have to be ready. We're going to make some changes too, and it will be a good game tomorrow."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The opening set was a set of errors from the end line for the Spartans. TWU committed seven service errors, with only one ace to Saskatchewan's two errors and three aces. The two teams were even early at 7-7, but the Spartan errors resulted in a 9-2 run by the Huskies to give Saskatchewan a seven-point, 16-9, midway through the set. The Spartans scrambled back with a 13-5 run to tie the set at 22-22. After exchanging points the Huskies used a kill by Baird and a Spartan attack error to take the opening set 25-23. TWU hit .370 (16-4-27), while Saskatchewan hit .208 (11-6-24).  
 
The second set had the teams tied early at 8-8. Neither team earned more than a two-point lead through the set and remained even at 18-18. The Huskies got back-to-back points to take a 20-18 lead. TWU responded and after two Saskatchewan errors had evened the set at 21-21. TWU made it three straight after a Schmidt kill to put the Spartans up 22-21 and put the Huskies into a timeout. The teams played side out ball to remain tied at 23-23. Another kill by Schmidt off of the Huskies block an attack error gave the Spartans the second set 25-23 to even the match at 1-1. The Spartans hit .188 (11-5-32), while the Huskies hit .206 (15-8-34). TWU was better from the end line finishing the set with two aces and two errors, while the Huskies had one ace and four errors in the set.
 
The Huskies took an early 10-8 lead, but the Spartans rallied with a 10-4 run to take an 18-14 lead and put Saskatchewan into a timeout after back-to-back attack Huskie attack errors. Out of the break, the Huskies took three straight points to make it a one-point, 18-17, Spartan lead and put TWU into their timeout. The Huskies tied the set at 20-20 and after exchanging points took a 22-21 lead after a block by Keegan Colleaux and Jacob Baird of de Greeff. The Huskies got to set point leading 24-22 after another block. The Spartans got even again with two blocks by fourth-year middle Jackson Corneil (Surrey, B.C.) to even the set at 24-24, with the Huskies taking a timeout. A TWU service error and a Huskies block gave Saskatchewan the next two points and the second set 26-24 to take a 2-1 set lead. TWU hit .250 (15-7-32), while Saskatchewan hit .125 (11-7-32). TWU again struggled from the end line with seven errors to one ace, while Saskatchewan had two aces and two errors.
 
The Huskies jumped out to an early 7-3 lead and put TWU into a quick timeout after Saskatchewan took four straight points. After exchanging points the Spartans took three straight points to cut the lead by one point, 8-7. But the Huskies responded again taking three straight points to lead 11-7 and put TWU into another timeout. The Spartans responded with four points to tie the set at 11-11 and put Saskatchewan into a timeout after a de Greeff service ace. TWU extended their lead to 15-13 points, then took two of three points to lead 17-14 and put the Huskies into a timeout after Schoenherr and Schmidt blocked Graham. The teams exchanged points to 23-20 for the Spartans. The Spartans got to set point after a de Greeff kill made it 24-20 for TWU. The Huskies held off two set points before Schmidt gave the Spartans the fourth set 25-22 and tied the match at 2-2. The Spartans hit .297 (15-4-37), while the Huskies hit .194 (12-5-36). The Spartans had two aces and three errors in the set, while the Huskies had one ace and two errors.
 
The Spartans carried their momentum into the fifth set and took a quick 5-2 lead after a Schoenherr kill and put the Huskies into an early timeout. The Huskies took three points out of the break to even the final set at 5-5. The Spartans got to eight points first with a third-year outside Kyden Dmitruck (Surrey, B.C.) kill to give TWU an 8-6 lead on the changeover. Out of the change, Schmidt gave the Spartans two straight aces to expand the Spartans lead to four points, 10-6, as the Huskies took a timeout. After multiple service errors, Jackson Corneil gave TWU a 12-8 lead. Back-to-back kills by the Huskies Morrow and Mathieu Methot cut the Spartans' lead to two points, 12-10, and put TWU into a timeout. After exchanging points de Greeff got the Spartans to set point leading 14-11. The Huskies took the next two points to make it a one-point game 14-13 for the Spartans, with TWU taking a timeout. Schmidt ended the match with a cross-court kill to give TWU the set 15-13 and the match 3-2. TWU hit .158 (7-4-19), while Saskatchewan hit .158 (7-4-19). TWU had two aces and two errors, while Saskatchewan had one error.
 
NOTABLE 

• TWU finished the night hitting .259 (62-24-147), while Saskatchewan hit at .179 (56-30-145).
• The Spartans finished with 11 blocks, while the Huskies finished with 10.
• TWU had eight aces, while Saskatchewan had seven.
• TWU had 45 digs to Saskatchewan's 55.
• The No. 8 Spartans finished in fifth place in Canada West at 12-8, while the No. 6 Huskies finished fourth at 14-6.
• This week's best-of-three Canada West quarterfinal is a rematch of the Spartans and Huskies final matches of the season, which the teams each won 3-0 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.
• The Spartans are currently 44-21 lifetime against the Huskies.
• TWU is 6-4 over the last 10 meetings with Saskatchewan.
• The last time the Spartans played the Huskies in the postseason was March 11, 2022, when TWU won 3-0 in Abbotsford, B.C. TWU would go on to win the Canada West championship and a U SPORTS silver medal.
• The winner of the best-of-three series will match up with the Manitoba Bisons and Winnipeg Wesmen series winner in a single elimination match next week at the Canada West Final Four.

 
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country, and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in U SPORTS. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
 
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