The Trinity Western Spartans extended the second-ranked Alberta Golden Bears to four sets both nights, but the end result was a pair of losses in Canada West men’s volleyball action at the LEC.
The loss dropped the 10th-ranked Spartans to 8-6 while Alberta improved to 14-0. The Golden Bears have been pushed to a fourth set just five times.
“They went to a different gear at the end and we weren’t ready to go with them,” said TWU coach Ben Josephson.
“It’s like a distance runner has a kick at the end of the race.
“They had a kick and we hit the gas and there was nothing there.
“That’s what we have to figure out if we get the chance to play them again.”
Friday’s match saw the teams trade the first two sets, both by 25-22 scores. But Alberta won set three handily, 25-14, and then closed things out 25-22.
In Saturday’s contest, the Golden Bears won 3-1 (25-21,20-25,25-21,25-19).
Ryan Sclater led the team both nights with 14 kills on Friday and Blake Scheerhoorn had a dozen kills the first night and 17 the next.
Pearson Eshenko had eight blocks and Devyn Plett had 36 assists on Friday while Ben Lieuwen had six blocks and Tyler Koslowsky had 14 digs. Devyn Plett quarterbacked the attack with 43 assists.
The team is in Calgary this weekend for a pair of matches against the Dinos.