CALGARY – Meaghan Mealy, Avery Heppell and Meaghan Mealey all finished with double-digit kills to help lead the Trinity Western Spartans to a 3-1 (25-14, 14-25, 25-19, 25-20) victory over the Mount Royal Cougars Sunday in the gold medal game at the 2022 U SPORTS Women’s Volleyball Championship from the Jack Simpson Gym.
The win gives the Spartans and head coach Ryan Hofer their second National Championship in program history, with their first coming back in the 2014-15 campaign.
Trinity Western didn’t let the championship nerves get the best of them as they came out firing in the first set. The Spartans hit a game-high 0.478 in the first to easily take the opening set 25-14.
Powered by the support from a large contingent of Mount Royal fans, the Cougars would bounce back to take the second set, before the Spartans would flex their muscles in sets three and four to take home the gold medal.
Schedule & Results
Livestream
Heppell, who was named Championship MVP, led the team with 15.5 points as she finished with 11 kills and led the team in blocks with seven. Purdy led the Spartans in kills with 13, while Olivia Heinen dished out 36 assists. The Cougars were led offensively by Haley Roe who had a game-high 15 kills in a losing effort. Mount Royal’s Nyadholi Thokbuom equaled Heppell’s block total with seven of her own.
After the first two sets were somewhat lopsided for either side, the third and fourth sets were much tighter throughout. The Spartans managed to be a touch cleaner on their attacks, as their 0.228 hitting percentage for the match topped the Cougars’ 0.147.
Trinity Western had to play in a hostile environment twice en route to taking home their championship as along with Sunday’s final, they played the host Calgary Dinos in their opening match of the tournament on Friday. But this Spartans squad persevered throughout and proved to everyone why they were the No. 1 ranked team coming into the tournament.
The Cougars put up a valiant effort in their first-ever national final and will leave with the silver medal.
Boxscore
Mikasa Top Performers Presented by Team Nike
Mount Royal Cougars: #12 Hayley Roe
Trinity Western Spartans: #12 Avery Heppell
CHAMPIONSHIP AWARDS
Championship MVP: Avery Heppell, Trinity Western
Championship All-Star Team
Victoria Iannotti, McGill
Kory White, Alberta
Haley Roe, Mount Royal
Quinn Pelland, Mount Royal
Savannah Purdy, Mount Royal
Ansah Odoom, Trinity Western
R.W. Pugh Fair Play Award: Kenzie Vaandering, Calgary
As the Exclusive Volleyball Supplier of U SPORTS, Mikasa will provide match balls, as well as other prizing to the U SPORTS Men’s Volleyball Championship and the U SPORTS Women’s Volleyball Championship in 2022.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login