Cats refuse to quit but Spartans too much

BRANDON, Man. – The Trinity Western Spartans were pushed by the Bobcats late but hung on for a 3-1 (25-21, 25-15, 17-25, 25-18) win Friday night at the HLC.
 
The Spartans entered as the top seeded team in the conference and showed why at times, but the Bobcats showed plenty of fight from the 11 members of the team that saw action.
 
The first set saw the Spartans live up to the No. 1 national ranking. The Bobcats kept it close early before a 6-2 run for Trinity created enough some separation. Brandon battled back to trim the deficit to 22-20 before the Spartans closed it out.
 
That momentum carried into the second set, as the Spartans started the set on a 4-0 run before a 5-0 run in the mid-point of the set put Trinity in a comfortable position to close it out.
 
The two teams were close to start the third before Danielle Dardis went on a service run to extend BU’s lead to three. Keely Anderson followed that up with a service run of her own as the Bobcats took the set.
 
The fourth set started with the two teams trading blows before Sydney Gill served the Bobcats into trouble, extending the Spartans lead to 17-6 before wrapping the match up.
 
Anderson continued her impressive performance from the service line, adding three aces to her league leading total 52. Anderson also added eight digs and 15 digs on the night.
 
Syree Tucker finished with a match-high 11 kills while Avery Burgar wasn’t far behind with 10.
 
The Spartans were led by Kirsten Kampman’s match-high 12 kills while Mikayla Benterud contributed 11 kills.
 
The win improves Trinity Western’s record to 21-2 and keeps the Spartans atop the Canada West standings with one match to go.
 
The Bobcats remain winless at 0-23.
 
The rematch and season finale goes Saturday back at the HLC with first serve scheduled for 5 p.m.