CALGARY – The No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans held off hard-serving Calgary Dinos side to earn a 3-2 (25-20,18-25, 25-22,17-25,15-13) win in a back and forth battle Thursday.
Fourth-year Spartan Hilary Howe (Calgary) took care of the majority of the offensive volume tonight, coming away with a double-double, with 17 kills and 13 digs to help TWU improve to 10-1 on the year. Second-year Savannah Purdy (Victoria) added 11 kills while fellow second-year Avery Heppell (Langley, B.C.) had nine kills from the middle with just one attacking error and fifth-year middle Mikaelyn Sych (Airdrie, Alta.) had nine blocks.
TWU setter Dora Komlodi (Calgary) had 35 assists while libero Emma Gamache (Abbotsford, B.C.) had 14 digs.
On the Dinos side, Lexi Peart led a balanced attack with a match-high 45 assists, dishing out 12 kills to Beth Vinnell and 13 to both Trinity Solecki and Adriel Goodman. The Dinos (2-9) had an impressive night at the serving line, in which they came away with 17 total aces.
TWU, who had 11 aces, countered with a 14-10 edge in blocks.
The first set of the night started off slow for the Dinos as they learned to adapt around the Spartans far-reaching blocks. Trinity Western edged the Dinos with a .433 hitting accuracy, ultimately leading them to a five-point win.
In round two, the Dinos quickly found their offensive momentum and played their best set of the season at home. The defending CW champion Spartans dropped the set after a service ace from Autumn Davidson sealed the 25-18 win.
The third set swung back TWU’s way with the Spartans winning a close set after a kill from Purdy.
Not to be denied, the underdog Dinos had their most impressive set of the night in the fourth frame, hitting .259 to the Spartans .029 to win by eight points and force a fifth set.
Set five went TWU’s way early on, as two service aces from Heppell gave the Spartans a 7-3 lead. But Calgary clawed its way back to tie up the game at 11-11, but a kill from Howe eventually propelled the Spartans across the finish line.
QUOTABLE
Ryan Hofer – TWU Head Coach
“It was a really tough game tonight. Calgary played really well. They really tested our receive and we had to learn to adjust and learn to find ways to score. They did a good job defensively and we just had to be patient and find our opportunities. I’m really proud of the team in the end for staying calm through it all and working through some frustrations and finding a way to win.”
NOTABLE
• The game marked a rematch of last year’s Canada West final, which the Spartans won in three sets.
• Including last year’s conference final, TWU has won five straight matches against the Dinos and the Spartans are 14-3 against Calgary over the last eight seasons.
• Howe has now had 13 or more kills in all 10 of TWU’s 11 matches this season.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will close out the semester Friday with the rematch against Calgary at 6 p.m. (MT).
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women’s and men’s soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women’s rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men’s hockey and as an independent team in men’s rugby. The men’s and women’s hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.
[SOURCE: Trinity Western University]