DINOS RALLY OVER SPARTANS IN FIVE

CALGARY, Alberta – The No. 4 Trinity Western Spartans were unable to hold off the Calgary Dinos Friday night, as the home team earned a five-set marathon victory over the Spartans at the Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary. The 25-16, 23-25, 25-19, 29-27, 19-17 loss drops the Spartans to 18-5, while the win moves the Dinos to 9-14.

Third-year middle Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with 16 kills, and nine blocks, and second-year outside Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) with 12 kills, and two blocks led the Spartans. Daisy Olsen with 26 kills, eight digs, and seven blocks led the Dinos.

TWU third-year setter Kandra Kern (Edmonton, Alta.) finished with 35 set assists, while Calgary setter Anya Fehr and Evelyn Kath finished with 34 and 23 set assists to lead the Dinos

TWU’s third-year libero Mikayla McBain (Burlington, Ont.) finished with 15 digs, while Calgary’s Daisy Olsen also had 15 digs for the Dinos.

AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans came out strong and quickly took control of the opening set. TWU led 9-4, and 16-9 and never let the Dinos into the set before taking the opening set 25-16. The Spartans finished the set hitting at .222 (8-2-27), while the Dinos hit at .000 (11-11-37). TWU finished a 3-1 advantage in service aces.
 
Calgary was much better in the second set and took an early 8-5 lead. But TWU tied the set up
12-12 with a 7-4 run. From that point, the set was evenly played with the two teams still tied at 22-22. Calgary took three of the next four points to even the match with a 25-23 win. The Spartans improved their attack to .286 (12-4-28), but the Dinos were impressive as they improved to .419 (16-3-31). TWU again had the edge in aces at 3-2.
 
­The momentum shifted back to the Spartans to start the third set as TWU quickly took a 7-1 lead. The teams played side-out for much of the rest of the set. TWU led 21-13, before taking the third set 25-19, and a 2-1 set lead. It wasn’t a strong offensive set for either team as TWU hit .100 (9-6-30), while Calgary hit at .083 (11-8-36). The Spartans had the lone ace of the set.
 
The fourth set was even from the start with the two teams tied at 9-9 and at 13-13. The Spartans earned a two-point lead, 19-17, after a ball-handling error on the Dinos. But Calgary came back and took four straight points to lead 21-19. In the back-and-forth set, TWU responded, and with a Kirsten Kampman (fourth-year, Chilliwack, B.C.) attack off of the Dinos block, TWU had regained a one-point lead, 22-21. The Dinos tied the set at 22-22. The teams exchanged points and the Dinos held off two match points with TWU up 24-23, and 25-24. TWU called a timeout with the teams tied at 25-25. After holding off two more set points, the Dinos took the fourth set, 29-27 with three straight points, and forced a fifth set. TWU hit at .205 (16-7-44), while Calgary hit at .283 (18-5-46). The Dinos had three service aces in the set.
 
In the final set very little could separate the two teams. TWU had the one point 8-7 at the changeover. But Calgary took three straight points to lead 10-8. The Spartans responded with a 4-2 run to tie the set at 12-12. Calgary got a match point after a block, but Plouffe tied the set up at 14-14. A service error gave the Dinos another match point. But a tip by fourth-year middle Jayda Harder (Waldheim, Sask.) in the middle tied the set at 15-15 and a service ace by Kern gave TWU a match point at 16-15.  Out of a time out Calgary took two straight points to lead 17-16. A Dinos service error gave the Spartans a point and tied the set at 17-17. Calgary’s Sheridan Coninx finished off the set and the match with a kill and a block to give the Dinos the five-set marathon 19-17. The Spartans hit at -.077 (8-10-26), while the Dinos hit at .125 (7-4-24).
 
NOTABLE

• TWU finished the night hitting at .155 (53-29-155), while Calgary hit at .184 (63-31-174).
• The Spartans had an 8-6 edge in service aces, while each team had 16 total blocks.
• The match took 2:45 to play.
• First-year outside Isabelle Musholt-Ko (Vancouver, B.C.) played in her first conference match as a Spartan finishing with four kills, and two blocks.
• Last week the Spartans swept the MacEwan Griffins, winning 3-0 on Friday night, and 3-1 on Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.
• Last week Calgary was swept, 3-1 and 3-0, by the Winnipeg Wesmen on the road in Winnipeg, Man.
• The Spartans are 36-38 lifetime against the Dinos.
• The last time the Spartans lost to the Dinos in conference play was 3-2, February 3, 2018, in Calgary, Alta.
• TWU had won nine straight conference and play-off matches against Calgary.

UP NEXT
The Spartans and Dinos will finish the two-match series tomorrow and the Canada West season tomorrow evening at the Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary, Alta. the match is set for 7:30 p.m. (MT) can be seen live on Canada West 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 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
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