In a battle between two of the country鈥檚 top teams, it was the top-ranked Spartans earning a pair of decisive victories.
The Spartans won 3-1 (22-25,25-23,25-19,25-19) and 3-0 (25-23,25-21,25-16) over the weekend as they welcomed the fourth-ranked Alberta Golden Bears to the 91原创 Events Centre, improving to 9-1 on the Canada West season.
鈥淏eating a great volleyball team that is coached by Terry (Danyluk) and Brock (Davidiuk) is really hard to do,鈥� said Spartans coach Ben Josephson.
鈥淚 think they made some really nice adjustments in the first set 鈥� they had six blocks and anytime you have that many blocks, that鈥檚 a result of really good planning.
鈥淏ut I thought we adjusted back and stole that set. When we exploded in the middle section of the second set, I think that鈥檚 when we broke the game open.鈥�
Saturday鈥檚 victory saw Eric Loeppky set the Spartans three-set kill record as he collected 21 kills. He finished with a .594 hitting percentage.
Spartans coach Ben Josephson said setter Adam Schriemer 鈥� who finished with 35 assists and three kills 鈥� was instrumental in Loeppky鈥檚 historic night.
鈥淓ric went on a hot streak tonight and was great, but what鈥檚 really important to recognize is the work of Adam,鈥� Josephson said. 鈥淥ur reception held up really well, but the genius of Schriemer shouldn鈥檛 be lost in this.
鈥淲hen you can get your best spiker that many open looks, it says a lot about the quarterback. I thought Adam was masterful in figuring out how they were playing us and opening up the door for Eric to have the night that he did.
鈥淚t was a big night for Eric, but it was equally, if not bigger for Adam. But this is really all created by lots of people doing their job well.鈥�
Friday鈥檚 match saw Alberta win the opening set before TWU took the next three.
Jacob Kern led the way with 14 kills while Schriemer had 40 assists and five digs and Carter Bergen had eight digs.
The Spartans play their final matches before the holiday break this weekend in Edmonton against the MacEwan Griffins.
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