Men's Volleyball

Defending champion Trinity Western through to semifinal after blanking Waterloo

Trinity Western K: Aidan Simone - 7
B: Matthew Mawdsley - 3
D: Braden Cok - 6
SA: Nikola Dimitrijevic - 1
K: Ryan Sclater - 12
B: Adam Schriemer - 5
D: Ryan Sclater - 4
SA: Eric Loeppky - 2

Hitting %

EDMONTON (U SPORTS) – The defending champion and top-seeded Trinity Western Spartans rolled into the semifinals with a straight sets victory over the No. 8 Waterloo Warriors on opening day of the 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men's Volleyball Championship at the Saville Community Sports Centre.

A day after being named U SPORTS Player of the Year, Trinity's multi-faceted outside hitter Ryan Sclater rained down a match-high 12 kills as the Spartans wrapped up a 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-23) victory in the opening match of nationals.

That might have been fine for Waterloo if Sclater was all the Spartans brought to the table, but their attack was set nicely by Adam Schriemer, who finished with 30 assists and 2.5 blocks, earning Player of the Game honours for the Langley, B.C., institution.

"It's exciting to get going, for sure," said the fourth-year Winnipeg product. "You want to get that first game over with, get the tournament going.

"It's exciting and we're happy to get a win under our belts and advance. We're looking forward to tomorrow."

Aidan Simone led Waterloo with seven kills, while Matthew Mawdsley chipped in 1.5 blocks.

Trinity Western will meet the winner of No. 4 Laval and No. 5 McMaster in Saturday's first semifinal (6:30 p.m.).

To get the first win out of the way is always a relief, even if you're the favourites.

"You know what, we lost to Western two years in a row in this quarter-final a couple of years ago," said Trinity Western head coach Ben Josephson. "Ever since then, every time we see and OUA opponent, we get a little bit nervous. You don't know them and everyone's awesome at nationals.

"We're exhaling now because once you're in the semifinal at this tournament, everybody's awesome. Now it's a matter of taking a deep breath; we've got a long time to recover before tomorrow's semi. We're really excited to see if we get a rematch with Mac or if we get to play Laval."

As is often the case in volleyball, No. 1-ranked teams don't necessarily obliterate you. They simply execute a slow burn that you really can never extinguish.

That was exactly what transpired in the first set as Trinity Western just had too much for Waterloo over time. Too much Blake Scheerhoorn on the left. Too much Sclater on the right. And too much of the U SPORTS Rookie of the Year Eric Loeppky from the serve line.

The set started and ended with Sclater points, his last a sublime leap into orbit from the back row to smash the ball untouched into the right back corner.

Trinity found its rhythm in the second set, practically gaining two points for every one that Waterloo managed. It ended when the Warriors went long on the pipe play.

"They're a good team, so they kind of dictated the tempo of the match in Sets 1 and 2," said Waterloo head coach Shayne White, whose team advanced to nationals as the runner-up out of the OUA after a 9-8 season.

"They started passing a little poorly in the third set and that allowed us to get our defence going. It's an experience."

Indeed, the Warriors got their first glimmer of hope in the match in the third set when they held 21-18 and 23-20 leads. They seemed poised to continue the proceedings until Trinity rattled off five straight points – the majority off of big blocks – to steal it away.

"What makes our team great this season is we have a lot of different ways of scoring points," said Josephson. "We were a good side out team. We sided-out 88 per cent in the first set. You'll never lose with that.

"The second set I thought our service game was good and we made some really good transitions. Our third set, I thought our blocking picked up. Our side out game wasn't great. So we made some timely blocks, especially from Loeppky at the very end.

"All great teams have to find ways of scoring points in all phases. At this stage, everybody's really good and everybody's well coached, so they're going to continue to adapt."

For Lawson, it's the third time his Warriors have bowed out in the first round at nationals, but there are always takeaways.

"Every time you come back here, you're coming closer and closer to winning the first round, so we'll keep trying to come back – this is three years in a row for us," he said.

"I thought our composure was better than it has been in the past. Our block defence has been fantastic and was good again today. We'll try to build on that." April 5, 2017 Boiago and Demyanenko Named McMaster Athletes of the Year March 23, 2017 Williams and Ogilvie honoured at 2017 Excalibur Athletics Awards Banquet March 20, 2017 Koppers, Veltman named Investors Group OUA Athletes of the Week March 20, 2017 McMaster medals for fifth-straight year after sweeping UBC in bronze match March 19, 2017 Marauders fall to top seeded Trinity Western, to play for bronze Sunday March 19, 2017 Laval down Warriors in straight sets at U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship March 18, 2017 McMaster holds off rallying Laval, advances to national semifinal March 18, 2017 Defending champion Trinity Western through to semifinal after blanking Waterloo March 17, 2017 Pair of OUA standouts named U SPORTS first-team all-Canadians March 15, 2017 McMaster’s Demyanenko honoured as U SPORTS athlete of the week March 15, 2017 2017 U SPORTS #CHAMPSZN Previews: Marauders & Warriors chasing first Tantramar Trophy March 13, 2017 Demyanenko, L. Stafford named Investors Group OUA Athletes of the Week March 13, 2017 U SPORTS FOG Men’s Volleyball Championship: McMaster ranked No. 5, Waterloo No. 8 March 12, 2017 Marauders withstand early barrage to win fifth consecutive Forsyth Trophy March 12, 2017 Gryphons beat Ryerson in five sets to claim OUA bronze March 10, 2017 Warriors return to OUA Final, U SPORTS Championship with sweep of Gryphons March 10, 2017 No. 3 Marauders roar into fifth consecutive OUA final with sweep of Rams March 9, 2017 OUA announces 2016-17 West Division Men's Volleyball Major Awards and All-Stars March 9, 2017 OUA announces 2016-17 East Division Men's Volleyball Major Awards and All-Stars March 6, 2017 Top teams head to Hamilton this weekend for OUA Men's Volleyball Final Four March 5, 2017 Marauders to host OUA Final Four for fifth straight season after straight sets win March 5, 2017 Warriors knock off top-seeded Lions, clinch sixth straight OUA Final Four berth March 5, 2017 Gryphons win 3-1 over Nipissing, advance to OUA Final Four March 5, 2017 Rams rally from down 2-0 to beat Mustangs and advance to OUA Final Four March 2, 2017 Sibling harmony: Kyle and Andrew Richards maintain bond despite division rivalry February 18, 2017 AROUND OUA: Warriors take Marauders to the brink, fall in five sets February 4, 2017 AROUND OUA: Hutcheson serves up six aces in 3-1 win over Trent January 30, 2017 AROUND OUA: Gryphons sweep Lakers to pick up first win on new court January 28, 2017 AROUND OUA: Blues edge Paladins to improve to 4-5 January 16, 2017 AROUND OUA: Warriors use dominant attack to sweep aside Badgers January 16, 2017 AROUND OUA: Hoey puts down 10 kills to lead Gaels past RMC 3-0 January 9, 2017 Badgers knock off No. 8 ranked Gryphons 3-1 December 31, 2016 Marauders sweep defending NCAA champion Ohio State Buckeyes December 19, 2016 No. 2 Marauders Welcome NCAA No. 1 Ohio State to Hamilton November 28, 2016 AROUND OUA: Sweep completes perfect weekend for Lakers November 26, 2016 AROUND OUA: Rams prevail in five sets over rival Blues November 19, 2016 AROUND OUA: Gaels move to 5-1 with five set win over Waterloo September 15, 2016 Lion's volleyball use team bonding to help clean up Keele campus July 21, 2016 McMaster to host 2018 CIS men's volleyball championship as hosts announced
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