SPARTANS START FINAL ROAD TRIP OF THE SEASON WITH A WIN OVER HEAT

KELOWNA, British Columbia – The No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans took the final two sets on their way to a 3-1 victory over the UBC Okanagan Heat Friday night in Canada West volleyball action in Kelowna, B.C. TWU improves to 16-1 with a 25-18, 23-25, 25-19, 25-17 win, while UBC O drops to 8-9.

Savannah Purdy with 13 kills, and three aces, and Mikayla Benterud with five kills, five aces, and four blocks led the Spartan attack. While Jade Bussard with 13 kills and Sydney Grills with 11 kills, two aces, and three blocks led the Heat.

AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans and the Heat were even early, then with TWU leading 8-6 the Spartans went on a 8-1 run to lead 16-7 at the technical break. Out of the break the Heat closed the margin to four points, trailing 22-18. But that was the last points for UBC-O in the opening set as TWU closed out the set with a 3-0 run to take the set 25-18. The Spartans hit .212 (13-6-33) in the opening set, while the Heat hit at .077 (11-8-39).

The second set was a back-and-forth contest with both teams battling for control. With a 6-5 lead, TWU looked to take control of the set with a 5-0 run to take an 11-5 lead. But the Heat responded to cut the lead to 13-12 with a 7-2 run. TWU led 16-14 at the technical break, but the teams were tied again at 20-20. In the end run of the set the Heat were the better team. They used a 4-0 run, from trailing 20-18, to lead 22-20. From there the two teams played side-out ball as the Heat evened up the sets with a 25-23 second set win. TWU hit the same in the second set at .212 (11-4-33), while UBC-O improved to .162 (15-9-37).

The third set had the Spartans in control throughout. TWU’s hitting improved to .296 (11-3-27), while UBC-O’s dropped to -.071 (8-10-28). The Spartans used the offence to jump out to a 10-6 lead early on their way to a 16-9 lead at the technical break. The Heat closed the lead to five points, trailing 22-17, but were unable to get closer as the Spartans closed out the set scoring the last two points to take a 2-1 lead with the 25-19 third set win.

Trinity Western carried their third set momentum into the fourth and what would be final set. TWU took control with an early 9-4 lead. UBC Okanagan closed the two points, trailing 10-8, but Trinity Western used a 6-2 run to lead 16-10 at the technical break. From there the Spartans never looked back as they extended their lead to eight points, 23-15, before taking the set and the match 25-17. TWU finished the match with best attacking set. The Spartans hit .300 (11-2-30), while the Heat finished at .129 (8-4-31).

NOTABLE

• The Spartans best season in Canada West conference play was in 2019-2020 when TWU finished 22-2. With one more win TWU will finish 15-1, which would be the fewest losses in program history after conference play.
• TWU is 16-5 life time in conference play against UBC Okanagan.
• The last time the Spartans lost to the Heat was October 28, 2017, when UBC-O won 3-1 in Langley, B.C. TWU has not lost to UBC-O in Kelowna, B.C. since October 18, 2014, when the Heat prevailed 3-2.
• On the night the Spartans hit .252 (46-15-123), while the Heat hit at .081 (42-31-135).
• The Spartans had the better of the Heat in blocks and aces at an 8-7 advantage in both catagories.

UP NEXT
The Spartans will finish Canada West conference play tomorrow night in the second match of the two game series with the UBC Okanagan Heat. Match time tomorrow afternoon, Saturday, February 26, is set to start at 4 p.m. The match can be seen live on Canadawest.tv.

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women’s and men’s soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women’s rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men’s rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.

-TW-