PURDY MAKES 8 SERVICE ACES IN SWEEP OVER TRU

KAMLOOPS, B.C. – Trinity Western threw down a 3-0 sweep (25-15, 25-16, 25-19) over Thompson Rivers at the Tournament Capital Centre on Saturday, moving to eight consecutive victories.

The Spartans (11-1) had an outstanding day at the service line as Savannah Purdy (Victoria) posted eight aces. TWU combined for 15 service aces, ousting the seven aces TRU (1-13) put forth.

Ansah Odoom (Surrey, B.C.) led TWU’s offensive efforts with a game-high of nine kills on .389 efficiency. The Spartans were strong at the net, hitting an overall .400 kill-rate on the night while beating out TRU 32-21 in total kills.

AS IT HAPPENED
TRU came out of the gates ready to play as the home side kept up with the Spartans early on. With TWU holding a 14-10 lead in the set, Purdy stepped up to complete five consecutive aces to give the visiting Spartans a 19-10 lead. The first set rolled to a 25-15 close in favour of TWU.

After Savannah Purdy’s miraculous serving run carried the Spartans to a convincing victory in the first set, TWU found themselves deadlocked with the WolfPack at 12 points apiece. A serving run of five by Jayda Harder (Waldheim, Sask.) lifted the Spartans to a 25-16 victory in the second set of play.

The Spartans held off a late surge by the WolfPack in the third set, capping a convincing win with a 25-19 victory to move to their eighth straight victory in conference play.

NOTABLE

• Purdy’s stellar night in the serving department ties her for the second most aces (8)  in TWU women’s volleyball history. The record of 10 is currently held by Lies Verhoeff, which was set against Winnipeg on Nov. 30, 2002.
• The Spartans were strong up the middle in Saturday’s victory as Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) and Jayda Harder combined for 10 kills with no errors. The duo’s hitting percentage ended at an outstanding .714.
• The Spartans have swept TRU in all four meetings this season, holding the WolfPack to less than 20 points in 11/12 sets.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ryan Hofer
“Really nice offensive, and serving package tonight. Our team combined for 16 aces as Savannah [Purdy] had eight and Jayda [Harder] had four. We played all four middles this weekend, and all four went without an error the entire time, they did a really nice job. Our outsides played with consistency this weekend, Ansah [Odoom], Savannah [Purdy], and Meaghan [Mealey] were awesome. We had a lot of support from the sidelines today, it was great to get a bunch of players in today who did their job, maintained the intensity, and focus on what we’ve been building on.”

UP NEXT
The Spartans will split a weekend series between the Langley Events Centre and the Envision Financial Athletic Centre against Fraser Valley (5-6) next weekend.

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 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.

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