On the strength of 22 kills from Eric Loeppky, the second-ranked Trinity Western University (TWU) Spartans volleyball team earned a 3-1 (25-18, 25-23, 23-25, 27-25) win over Manitoba in their regular season finale Saturday at the Langley Events Centre (LEC).
“It was a fun match,” TWU head coach Ben Josephson said.
“When the volleyball was good, it was good. When it was bad, it was bad. But the mindset didn’t change.”
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Langley-based TWU and UBC split their regular season series in Langley, with the T-Birds winning in four and the Spartans winning in three.
The last time TWU lost a set was against UBC on Jan. 25.
Since their loss to the T-Birds, TWU finished the season with seven straight match wins.
Manitoba has now dropped six straight matches.
TWU has a 24-21 all-time record, including regular season and playoffs, against Manitoba.
With the win, TWU finished the season second in Canada West with an 18-4 record.
The Spartans will open the Canada West playoffs with a quarter-final series against UBC.
TWU will host the Thunderbirds (11-11), who finished seventh in the conference, in a best-of-three series, starting Thursday at the LEC.
Manitoba finished out of the playoffs with 7-15 record.
Photos and video courtesy TWU