NEVER RATTLED THE SPARTANS RALLY FOR FIVE-SET WIN OVER WOLFPACK

KAMLOOPS, British Columbia – Third-year middle Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) was dominant with a career-high 22 kills, to go with four blocks in leading the No. 4 Trinity Western Spartans to a 3-2, come-from-behind, victory over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack Thursday night at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops, B.C. The 19-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-15, 15-10 victory improves the Spartans to 13-2, while the loss drops the WolfPack to 6-11.

Second-year Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) with 12 kills, nine digs, and four blocks, fourth-year outside Kirsten Kampman  (Chilliwack, B.C.) with 10 kills, and 10 digs, and fourth-year outside Tamar Bil (Maple Ridge, B.C.) with four aces, three kills, three digs, and one block also had strong games for the Spartans. Brooklyn Olfert with 25 kills, four aces, and six digs, Keira Gent with 13 kills, and Ema Palkovicova with 10 kills, three aces, and three blocks led the WolfPack.

Third-year setter Kendra Kern (Edmonton, Alta.) ran the Spartan attack and finished with career-best 46 set assists, while Libby Meldrum finished with 48 assists for the WolfPack.

AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans started the set strong and jumped out to an 11-7 lead. But the WolfPack responded and tied the set at 14-14. The two teams played side-out ball till 17-17. From there the WolfPack took control of the set. Paced by three straight service aces from TRU’s Olfert the WolfPack jumped out to a 22-17 lead. The Spartans were unable to close the gap as the opening set ended with a Palkovicova ace to give TRU the opening set 25-19. TWU finished the first set hitting at .259 (9-2-27), while TRU hit at .379 (15-4-29). The WolfPack also had a 4-0 edge in service aces.
 
TRU carried the momentum into the second set and took an early 7-3 lead.  The Spartans slowly cut into the lead and tied the set at 19-19 after a big block of TRU’s Palkovicova by Isabelle Stothart (first-year, Airdrie, Alta.) and Boldon.  The WolfPack serving again took over and after back-to-back aces, by Palkovicova finished the set with a 6-1 run to take the second set 25-20 and a 2-0 set lead. TWU finished the set hitting .200 (10-4-30), while TRU finished at .314 (16-5-35). The WolfPack again had a 4-0 edge in service aces.
 
The Spartans had a better start in the third set and quickly jumped out to a 10-5 lead. TRU again attacked from the end line to cut the lead to two points trailing 10-8 after two aces from Addison Witkowski. Back-to-back TRU errors gave TWU a four-point lead 14-10. The WolfPack scrambled back and tied the set at 16-16 with a 6-2 run. Thompson Rivers continued to score and took a 20-18 lead and pushed TWU to take a timeout. Out of the break, the Spartans Bil found the floor to cut the lead to one point, 20-19. After a service error, TWU’s Plouffe responded with back-to-back kills to tie the set at 21-21. The momentum shifted to the Spartans as TWU took a 23-21 lead. After exchanging points Plouffe got TWU to set point before a Spartans block finished a 7-2 run giving TWU a 25-22 third set win. TWU hit at .333 (15-4-33), while TRU hit at .229 (15-7-35). Both teams finished with two service aces.
 
The Spartans continued their strong play to start the fourth set and took a quick four-point 7-3 lead. TWU pushed the lead to eight points, 15-7 after back-to-back kills from Kampman. The Spartans blocking took over down the stretch. Three straight blocks gave TWU a 24-14 lead before Boldon finished the set 25-15 to tie the match at 2-2. TWU finished the fourth set hitting at .391 (14-5-23), while TRU hit at .074 (9-7-27). The Spartans had a 2-0 service ace advantage.
 
TWU’s strong play carried into the fifth set as the Spartans jumped out to an 8-3 lead after a Boldon kill, at the changeover. After changing sides the WolfPack cut the Spartans lead to three points, trailing 11-8 after an Olfert kill. TWU’s Plouffe was there again for the Spartans to regain the four-point lead for the Spartans, 12-8. The WolfPack took the next two points and forced TWU into a time-out with a 12-10 lead. Out of the break, it was Plouffe with three straight kills to give the Spartans a 15-10 fifth-set win and a 3-2 match victory. TWU hit at .333 (7-1-18), while TRU hit at .182 (7-3-22) in the final set.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ryan Hofer
“TRU played very well tonight, and it’s not that I feel we played poorly, but we had to find an extra gear. We’re still hitting at a pretty good efficiencies on the first two sets even though we lost. But then we found another gear in the third, fourth, and fifth sets.”
 
“Kaylee was outstanding tonight.  Maryn and Kampman took heavy loads for us, and it was just a really good night. Kern distributed the ball really well for us tonight. Good volleyball and we learned a lot. This was a great opportunity for us to show some grit and I’m really proud of the team and how we responded after the first two sets.”
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans finished the night hitting at .298 (55-16-131), while the WolfPack finished at .243 (62-26-148).
• TRU had a 10-6 advantage in service aces, while TWU had an 11-9 edge in total blocks.
• Before tonight. Plouffe’s career best for kills was 18, which she set at home on November 25 in a 3-1 win over the Saskatchewan Huskies.
• Last week Trinity Western swept the Brandon Bobcats, 3-0 both nights at home in Langley, B.C.
• Last week TRU split with UBC Okanagan Heat, winning 3-0 on Friday, and losing 3-0 on Saturday in Kelowna, B.C.
• The Spartans are 49-5 lifetime against the WolfPack.
• TWU last lost in conference play to TRU, 3-2, on February 27, 2020 in Langley, B.C.
• The Spartans are 17-3 on the road against the WolfPack.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and the WolfPack will finish off the two-game series tomorrow afternoon in Kamloops, B.C. Match time at the Tournament Capital Centre is set for 2:30 p.m. and 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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