NO. 4 SPARTANS SWEEP GRIFFINS

LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 4 Trinity Western Spartans made quick work of the match as they defeated the MacEwan Griffins 3-0 Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The 25-21, 25-11, 25-22 win moves the Spartans to 17-4, while the loss drops the Griffins to 11-10.  

Second-year outside Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) with 14 kills, and five digs, fourth-year outside Kirsten Kampman (Chilliwack, B.C.) with 13 kills, and four digs, and third-year middle Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with 12 kills, and six blocks led the Spartans. Alyshia Bryks with 12 kills, and seven digs, and Mariah Bereziuk with 10 kills, six digs, and three aces led the Griffins.

TWU third-year setter Kandra Kern (Edmonton, Alta.) finished with 37 set assists, while MacEwan’s setter Payton Shimoda finished with 29 set assists for the Griffins.

TWU’s third-year libero Mikayla McBain (Burlington, Ont.) finished with 13 digs, while MacEwan’s Bronwyn Ettinger led the Griffins with nine digs.

AS IT HAPPENED
In the first set was back-and-forth early with MacEwan taking an early 11-7 lead after a kill from Bereziuk. But the Spartans came back with an 8-2 run to take a 15-13 lead as the Griffins took a timeout to slow the Spartans. TWU maintained the lead at 19-18. But an error by the Griffins and a big block by the Spartans Kern and Plouffe on MacEwan’s Bereziuk put TWU up 22-18. TWU increased the lead to set point at 24-19. The Griffins held off two set points before a kill by Maryn Boldon closed out the set at 25-21. TWU hit at .364 (16-4-33), while MacEwan hit at .324 (16-5-34).
 
In the second set, the teams were even early with TWU leading 8-7. But from there it was all Spartans. TWU dominated the second set and closed it out with a 17-4 run to take the set 25-11. The Spartans hit at .462 (15-3-26), while the Griffins hit at .000 (5-5-29).
 
In the final set, the Spartans and Griffins were even till 8-8. After a Boldon kill, MacEwan outpointed TWU 5-2 to take a 13-11 lead after a kill from Bryks. The Spartans came back and took a 15-14 lead after a Boldon kill. MacEwan responded and the teams remained tied at 18-18. The Spartans took the next three points after a Kampman kill put TWU up 21-18. Again the Griffins responded to tie the set at 21-21 after another kill by Bryks. The Spartans countered with three straight points to earn set point with a Kampman kill. The Griffins held off one TWU set point, before Kampman closed out the set, 25-22, and the match 3-0. TWU hit at .308 (15-3-39), while MacEwan hit at .136 (14-8-44).

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ryan Hofer
“I thought our team was really steady tonight. We know that MacEwan can play at a high level, and both teams had huge efficiency in the first set, but we just stayed the course. Kern did a really good job of delivering the ball so that our hitters could do their work and they made good shots.”
 
“I think our serving was something special tonight. We had a really high in percentage along with some very tough balls coming across the tape. And we got our blocking lineups right and overall we did a really good job of getting over the net and putting them in trouble.”
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans finished the night hitting at .367 (48-10-98), while the Griffins finished at .159 (35-18-107).
• TWU finished with an 8-1 advantage in total blocks and a 48-38 edge in digs.
• MacEwan had a 7-4 edge in service aces.
• Tonight’s match took 1:15 to complete.
• Last week the Spartans were swept by the No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds in a home-and-home series, losing 3-2 on Thursday night in Langley, B.C., and 3-1 on Friday night in Vancouver, B.C.
• Last week MacEwan was swept 3-0 on both nights by the Alberta Pandas at home in Edmonton, Alta.
• The Spartans are 14-2 lifetime against the Griffins.
• The last time the Spartans lost to the Griffins was 3-1 on February 9, 2019.
• TWU has won their last four conference matches against the Griffins.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Griffins will finish the two-match series tomorrow afternoon at the Langley Events Centre. Match time is set for 4 p.m. (PT) 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.
 
-TW-