Men’s Rugby
Moraga, Calif. – Playing in just their third 15s match in program history, Trinity Western’s men’s rugby team lost 96-0 against Saint Mary’s College, who is currently ranked No. 4 in the D1A rankings, Saturday.
A veteran Gaels side, who has played in five of the last seven D1A national championship matches, put up 53 points in the first half before adding 43 points in the second half.
The Spartans men’s 15s side is now 1-2 overall since re-launching the program this past fall, including a win over UBC Okanagan (43-20) and a loss to the Surrey Beavers (31-13).
TWU will now prepare to travel to play University of Washington Jan. 18 at 1 p.m. at IMA Sports Field.
Women’s Volleyball
Regina – Hilary Howe (Calgary) led all players with 15 kills as the No. 1-ranked Trinity Western Spartans took a three-set victory over the Regina Cougars to complete a weekend sweep at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport on the U of R campus.
Most of Howe’s kills came when TWU needed them the most. After handling the Cougars easily on Friday night, Regina came out battling and the first set featured 14 tie scores and eight lead changes. But the Cougars couldn’t stop Howe, who piled up nine kills with her last coming on set point and giving the Spartans a 25-23 win.
Trinity Western didn’t trail the rest of the way, taking a 25-16 win in the second and hitting .324 as a team in the third set while clinching the match with a 25-14 victory.
The win improves the Spartans Canada West-leading record to 13-1.
Besides Howe’s 15 kills, Trinity Western also got eight from Avery Heppell (Langley, B.C.). Heppell had no errors on 10 attacks, giving her a blistering .800 hitting percentage while also chipping in defensively with five blocks. Olivia Heinen (Abbotsford, B.C.) added 24 assists and a match-high 14 digs for TWU.
Regina (2-12) got a nine-kill, eight-dig performance from Jessica Lerminiaux while Sierra Parris-Kruger had a team-leading 11 digs and Elizabeth Tooth dished out 26 assists.
As a team, TWU finished with a 4-2 edge in aces and a 12-3 advantage in blocks.
Men’s Volleyball
No. 1-ranked Trinity Western dropped a 3-1 (25-19, 25-20, 16-25, 25-23) decision against No. 4 McMaster Saturday at Burridge Gymnasium.
After dropping the first two sets against the Marauders for the second night in a row, the Spartans responded by winning the third set by the same score as Friday. However, on Saturday, McMaster bounced back to take the match in four.
The contest saw TWU play a large swath of youngsters, with the Spartans finishing their stay in Ontario with a 4-2 overall record, including three wins against NCAA competition in the Can Am Volleyball Holiday Showcase and a victory over Brock.
TWU is now 20-4 overall this season.
The Spartans will return home to prepare to host Mount Royal Jan. 10 (4 p.m.) and Jan. 11 (1 p.m.).
Men’s Hockey
A pair of first period goals from Spartans forward Joseph Sylvain (Girouxville, Alta.) saw Trinity Western’s men’s hockey team take the early lead and never look back, defeating Selkirk 6-3 Saturday at the Castlegar Recreation Centre.
The undefeated first place Spartans (10-0-0-0) extended their franchise record winning streak to 10 games to open the season, while the loss dropped Selkirk to 4-6-0-3.
The Spartans win streak is the longest to open the season in the BCIHL since Selkirk won 13 consecutive in 2012-13.
Evan Last (Surrey, B.C.), Travis Verveda (Alix, Alta.), Hayden Guilderson (Chilliwack, B.C.), and Elijah Vilio (Aldergrove, B.C.) also scored for the Spartans, while TWU goaltender Lucas Mills (Burnaby, B.C.) stopped 25 of 28 shots for his league leading seventh win of the season.
Nolan Percival, Everett Hicks, and Edward Lindsey all scored for the Saints, with Selkirk goaltender Tallon Kramer making 22 saves to see his record fall to 4-8-0-0.
Joseph Sylvain scored his second goal of the season just 3:41 into the game to give TWU an early 1-0 lead in the first period.
After Saints defenceman Sebastian Powsey committed a slashing penalty, the Spartans doubled their lead to 2-0 courtesy of Last’s ninth goal of the season. Just over three minutes later, Sylvain scored his second of the period and stretched the Spartans lead to 3-0, beating Kramer with TWU’s fourth shot of the game.
The first five minutes of the second period saw TWU extend its lead to five courtesy of goals from defenceman Verveda and forward Guilderson, respectively.
Nolan Percival and Elijah Vilio traded goals midway through the second, before a late goal from Saints first-year forward Everett Hicks made it 6-2 in TWU’s favour heading into the final frame.
Just 54 seconds into the third period Selkirk forward Edward Lindsey scored his fourth of the season to cut the Spartans lead to 6-3. That would be it however, as TWU would close out the game for its 10th consecutive victory.
Men’s Basketball
It was a career night from Ja’Qualyn Gilbreath (Amarillo, Tex.), but the Spartans men’s basketball team fell 99-92 to No. 8 ranked Saskatchewan Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.
Gilbreath scored a career high 38 points for TWU (2-8) prior to fouling out midway through the fourth quarter. The mark by the Spartans fourth-year guard is good for third all-time in program history, tying Jacob Doerksen (Nov. 7, 2008) and Vartan Tanielian (Feb. 3, 2018) for points in a game.
Gilbreath shot 45% (13-29) from the field and added 11 rebounds, while Spartans forward Adam Gehrig (Toowoomba, Aust.) chipped in with 11 points of his own.
The Huskies were once again led by Alexander Dewar, who dropped a team high 22 points after scoring 19 in Friday’s win. JT Robinson also added 19 points and five rebounds for Saskatchewan.
Led by 10 first quarter points from forward Gehrig, the Spartans kept pace with Saskatchewan’s high scoring offence in the first. The Huskies, who were led by a pair of 3-pointers from Emmanuel Akintunde, held a 23-17 lead heading into the second quarter.
In the second quarter the Spartans fell behind 35-20 after a 12-3 run by Saskatchewan, before a trio of 3-pointers from Gilbreath helped bring TWU to within six points at 37-31. The Huskies then pulled ahead and led 43-35 at halftime.
TWU then scored a quick five points to open the third quarter, before tying the game at 49-49 courtesy of another Gilbreath 3-pointer. After Saskatchewan once again pulled ahead, a Gilbreath layup at the buzzer brought the Spartans to within five points heading into the final quarter.
The Huskies then took a 10-point lead nearing the final minute of the game, before 3-pointers from Isaiah Reimer (Abbotsford, B.C.), Daniel Stead (Langley, B.C.), and Gabe Mannes (Chilliwack, B.C.) brought TWU to within three points with 43 seconds remaining. Despite the late push by the Spartans, Saskatchewan would hold on to win 99-92.
The Huskies shot 47% (31-66) compared to the Spartans 41% (33-81) from the field. TWU held a 48-46 advantage in total rebounds.
Women’s Basketball
The Spartans women’s basketball team fell to the No. 1 ranked Saskatchewan Huskies for the second consecutive night, falling 101-47 Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.
Ranked No. 1 in U SPORTS, the Huskies improved to 16-0 overall and 10-0 in conference play, while the Spartans record falls to 3-7 on the season with the loss.
Nicole Fransson (Edmonton) led the charge offensively for TWU with a team high 10 points, while Teanna Bradshaw (Oshawa, Ont.) collected 11 rebounds for the Spartans.
Summer Masikewich and Megan Ahlstrom each had 19 points for the Huskies, with Masikewich adding a team high 10 rebounds in the winning cause.
Masikewich paced the Huskies offence in the first quarter with 10 points, taking advantage of TWU’s seven first quarter turnovers. Spartans guard Jolene Vlieg (Leduc, Alta.) however knocked down three consecutive 3-pointers to keep TWU within five points at 24-19 after the opening 10 minutes.
The Huskies took over offensively in the second quarter, scoring 16 consecutive points to take a 45-26 lead at halftime. Saskatchewan guard Ahlstrom was perfect from the line (8-8) in the quarter, contributing 11 second points.
The Spartans shooting then went cold in the third quarter, shooting just 20% (3-15) from the field and scoring eight points. Saskatchewan dropped another 24 points, stretching its lead to 69-34 heading into the fourth quarter.
The final quarter saw much of the same for both teams, with Saskatchewan continuing to roll offensively and the Spartans struggling to score against the conference’s top defence. TWU were outscored 32-13 over the final 10 minutes of play, losing 101-47 at home.
Saskatchewan shot 49% (34-70) from the field, while the Spartans score on 25% of their shots (16-63). TWU was also out rebounded by a 56-32 margin.
