Spartans outduel Bisons in thrilling Canada West Final

VANCOUVER – In a match certainly fitting of being a championship final, it was the Trinity Western Spartans who triumphed, claiming their eighth Canada West title in program history in a four-set win over the Manitoba Bisons (25-19, 23-25, 25-13, 27-25).

Kaden Schmidt put forth a monstrous performance for the champions, with 23 kills, 10 digs, five blocks and three aces. Piers De Greeff tallied 12 kills, four digs, three blocks and two aces in support, while Cory Schoenherr had five kills and eight blocks.

The Spartans as a team totalled 16 blocks, holding Manitoba to a .134 hitting percentage for the night.

"I'm super happy for our guys," said Trinity Western head coach Adam Schriemer. "That was a hard game, lots of ups and downs…that Manitoba team is so good, they didn't give us any free ones. I'm happy that we could find a way to grind it out – championship games are hard, and I'm just really happy for our guys."

On the side of the Bisons, Owen Weekes recorded 17 kills, three digs and three blocks, while Karil Dadash Adeh had 12 kills and three blocks. Jonah Dueck didn't land a kill but he tied his career-high for blocks with 11.

"I think we can be very proud of what we accomplished," remarked Manitoba bench boss Lupo Ludwig. "Our goal was to make it to nationals – we accomplished that yesterday and today we fought our best. Trinity played very good volleyball especially in the first set. We came back and unfortunately it wasn't enough, but we accomplished our goal of getting to Windsor and we can be proud of that right now."

The Spartans set the tone early in the first set, reeling off five straight points to take a 10-5 lead. A series of strong play over the middle from Schoenherr and Jackson Corneil helped power their lead, and that momentum carried forward through the rest of the set.

Up by as many as nine points at one stage, a last-second push from the Bisons made the score a little bit closer but De Greeff closed out the frame with a kill to make it 25-19.

While that late run didn't affect who won the first set, it might have carried over into the second as the Bisons continued their surge of stronger play with three early blocks to go up 6-2. The No. 5 seed maintained a multi-point lead for much of the second, with the high-water mark being an 18-12 advantage.

That's when the Spartans began to climb their way back into things, with a series of kills from Schmidt, De Greeff and Willem Van Huizen cutting into the deficit. The Bisons needed plenty of poise when they were up just 23-22 late, and they had it with Dadash Adeh landing two kills in a row to even up the match.

The third was the most lopsided set of the four on the night, as the Spartans jumped in front right away and dominated the frame. A Corneil kill followed by two straight blocks for the Trinity Western captain staked the Spartans out in front 18-6, and it was a cruise to the finish line from there.

Teetering on the ropes following the blowout third, and Bisons came out with renewed vigor in the fourth with Jordon Heppner and Weekes landing a series of kills. In a set that featured a period of four straight ties from 11-11 to 14-14, it was Manitoba who briefly pulled in front.

Dadash Adeh put his team up 18-16 with a kill, but a red card shown to Manitoba in the aftermath of the play flipped the momentum and kickstarted a 7-2 run for the Spartans that put them just two points away from victory.

That's when Dueck came up huge, following a couple Trinity Western errors with a monster solo block over the middle on Schmidt to tie the score at 23-23. But despite earning themselves two set points, the Bisons couldn't seal the deal, and the Spartans prevailed on a dramatic final point of their own at 27-25.

Both of the two teams will now turn their sights towards next week's U SPORTS Men's Volleyball Championship, with the Spartans surely brimming with confidence following a fantastic Final Four performance in Vancouver.

"We're just happy with how we're playing," said Schriemer. "We've got a complete team, a team that can score in a lot of different ways. We're hot, we're healthy and this group is having a lot of fun playing together. I love the mindset they're in and the consistency of play we have, so it's exciting going into the national tournament."

That massive weekend of volleyball will run from March 13 to 15 in Windsor.