VANCOUVER – The No. 1-ranked Trinity Western Spartans stayed perfect in Canada West action, improving to 9-0 on the season with a 3-2 (25-18, 26-24, 19-25, 20-25, 15-10) win over No. 3 UBC in a battle of unbeatens Friday at the War Memorial Gym.
After UBC (8-1) forced a fifth set, the Spartans raced out to an 8-1 lead in the fifth set The Thunderbirds never got closer than three points the rest of the way, as TWU’s Savannah Purdy (Victoria) put the finishing touches on the win with a kill to end the night.
Purdy finished with a match-leading 18 kills to go with five aces, while Meaghan Mealey (Calgary) had 13 kills and Ansah Odoom (Surrey, B.C.) had 12 kills and three aces. Setter Dora Komlodi (Calgary) had 45 assists while libero Emma Gamache (Abbotsford, B.C.) and a game-high 19 digs. Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) had six blocks.
The T-Birds were led by Cara Kovacs, who had 15 kills while setter Kayla Oxland had 53 assists.
The Spartans have now won five in a row and nine of their 10 matches against UBC.
TWU hit .231 as a team, while UBC hit .215. The Spartans had a 10-6 edge in aces and an 11-8 advantage in blocks.
After opening the night with wins in the first two sets, the Spartans were forced to face a fifth set after the Thunderbirds pulled even with wins in the third and fourth sets.
QUOTABLE Ryan Hofer – TWU Head Coach
“UBC came at us with a really nice serving and attacking package. So, we had to get our lineups right and we had to make sure we got the ball up in the air off serve receive so we could get a good swing at it. They didn’t give us many easy points tonight. There were a few uncharacteristic things that we did tonight, so I think we need to clean that up a bit, but it was a gritty win for our team.
“We have the utmost respect for this team. They are a very good volleyball team and they’re very experienced and they play good volleyball. We had to fight for everything and I expect nothing less tomorrow.
“We needed some passes and Mikayla McBain (Burlington, Ont.) came in and did it for us. I think different people were good in different areas. Meg attacked well and Savannah served well and also took a really heavy load for us offensively.”
NOTABLE
· TWU is 18-1 overall this season, including the preseason, with the Spartans only loss being a preseason setback against Thompson Rivers.
· Friday’s match was the Spartans first five-set game of the regular season.
· Purdy’s 18 kills and five aces both equaled season-highs.
UP NEXT
TWU and UBC play the back half of their home-and-home series Saturday at the Langley Events Centre at 5 p.m. (PT).
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 31 Canada West team championships.