For a second straight year, the Trinity Western Spartans are going for gold.
The Spartans men鈥檚 volleyball team 鈥� the defending national champions 鈥� defeated the McMaster Marauders 3-1 in the semifinals on Saturday at the U Sports national championships in Edmonton.
TWU also defeated McMaster in the 2016 championship game.
They will play the host Alberta Golden Bears for the gold medal on Sunday (March 19) at 5 p.m. (PST).
The Marauders won the first set in the semifinals, 25-23, but the Spartans responded with a pair of convincing wins in sets two and three, 25-14 and 25-17.
TWU then closed the match out in the fourth set, 25-21.
They were led by U Sports player of the year Ryan Sclater, who had 19 kills and 20.5 total points over the first four sets. Sclater also hit .441 for the match.
Blake Scheerhoorn had 14 kills while hitting .400.
As a team, the Spartans had a .380 hitting percentage.
While the men鈥檚 team is going for gold in Edmonton, the TWU women鈥檚 team will play for bronze after falling 3-0 in the semifinals to UBC.
The U Sports women鈥檚 national championships are being hosted by Toronto鈥檚 Ryerson University.
UBC won in straight sets, taking the first and third sets by 25-23 scores while the second set was 25-21.
Sophie Carpentier led TWU with a dozen kills.
The Spartans face Montreal for the bronze on Sunday at 10 a.m. (PST).
TWU was seeded seventh for the eight-team national championships.
