LANGLEY, B.C. – In what was a rematch of last years' Canada West and U SPORTS championship games the Trinity Western Spartans defeated the Brandon Bobcats in straight sets (28-26, 25-22, 25-20) in Game 1 of the Canada West semifinals Thursday at the Langley Events Centre.
 
Eric Loeppky led the way for the No. 1-ranked Spartans, adding 12 kills, two service aces and five digs. Pearson Eshenko, Jesse Elser and Jackson Howe all added eight kills for the defending national champions, while Derek Epp contributed 40 assists.
 
Elliott Viles led the way for the Bobcats, posting 12 kills and a team-high three service aces for the Bobcats. Reece Dixon added 18 assists and 10 digs while Mason Metcalf contributed five kills while hitting .444 in the losing cause. 

Brandon opened the first set to take a 9-6 lead, but a pair of Howe kills and a Jesse Elser ace tied the score back up at 9-9. Both teams traded leads frequently, before an Eshenko kill ultimately gave TWU a 28-26 first set win. The first ended with a total of 14 tied scores and seven lead changes.
 
The Spartans and Bobcats continued even play throughout the second, trading points once again up to a 9-9 score. After the Bobcats briefly broke ahead 12-10, TWU would go on a 7-2 run to take a 17-14 lead. Despite Brandon coming to within two late at 23-21, the Spartans would hold on to take their second consecutive set at 25-22.
 
Searching for their first set win, Brandon came out on a 7-3 run to open the third set. TWU would then counter on an 8-2 run of its own highlighted by a pair of aces from Elser to take a 11-9 lead. TWU would hold the lead for the rest of the match, winning the third set 25-20. The Spartans hit .567 (18-1-30) in the third and final set.
 
TWU held a 7.0 to 5.0 edge in total team blocks.