NO. 1-RANKED SPARTANS CLINCH FIRST WITH SWEEP OVER THOMPSON RIVERS

LANGLEY, B.C. – No. 1-ranked Trinity Western rode an 11-kill performance from Savannah Purdy (Victoria), which parlayed with her four service aces to defeat Thompson Rivers 3-0 (25-18, 25-15, 25-23) at the Langley Events Centre on Saturday.
 
The Spartans (20-2) also got a well-rounded performance from Mikayla Benterud [Clay] (Sherwood Park, Alta.), who combined her six kills with three aces and five blocks en route to the win. For the WolfPack (7-15), a solid night was in order for Lucy Millam, who put down a team-high of nine kills, digging five balls in the process.
 
The Spartans hit the ball well in their 20^th victory of the season, putting together a team hitting percentage of .357 among nine TWU players who made attacking attempts. TRU hit .244 as a team.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
Purdy and Millam each made three kills in the first set, which resulted in a 25-18 victory for the Spartans.
 
The second set (25-15) was TWU’s best of the night as the team proceeded to hit an astounding hitting percentage of .536. Meaghan Mealey (Calgary) and Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) each put down three kills in the frame.
 
The third set tilted in favour of the Spartans, but it stood as the closest contest of the match. With TWU taking a 25-23 victory, six kills from Purdy led the way, moving TWU to a conference-best 20 wins on the season.

 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans are 48-5 all-time against TRU, winning eight of their last 10 over the WolfPack.
• Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) put together an efficient display of hitting, putting forth a percentage of .667.
• With a game-high of eight digs in the match, Emma Gamache (Abbotsford, B.C.) is inching closer to Julie Blackburn’s TWU record in career overall digs across all competitions. Gamache’s tally of 1380 trails Blackburn’s career total of 1414 with two regular season games, and playoffs remaining.
• With this victory, TWU has clinched first place in Canada West. This is TWU’s fourth consecutive season doing so.

UP NEXT
The Spartans are at Brandon (0-22) to end their regular season on Feb. 17-18.

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, as well as women’s and men’s disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.

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