LANGLEY, B.C. – No. 1-ranked Trinity Western cruised to a 3-0 victory over Regina at the Langley Events Centre on Friday (25-9, 25-13, 25-23), riding a combined 18 kills from Ansah Odoom (Surrey, B.C.) and Savannah Purdy (Victoria).
The Spartans (17-2) took control of the match early before Regina (2-17) applied pressure in a tight third set.
Purdy and Odoom made nine kills each while Meaghan Mealey (Calgary) made eight errorless kills on 10 attempts, putting down a game-high hitting percentage (min. five attempts) of .800 in the match. Mealey also led the Spartans in service aces with three.
For the Cougars, Bailey Balaberda led the way with five kills in the loss. Jordy McEachern took the game-high in service aces with four, adding four kills in the loss.
AS IT HAPPENED
The first set ended in a 25-10 rout of the Cougars. Odoom led the Spartans along the way, making four errorless on as many attempts to hand TWU a 1-0 lead over Regina. The Spartans hit .591 in the frame.
Mealey made five kills in the second set, leading the Spartans to another heavy-handed victory (25-13) over the Cougars.
A late surge by the Cougars, specifically riding the strong serving of McEachern (4 aces in the set), kept things close in the final set. Still, the Spartans trudged to a 3-0 sweep, ending the match in straight sets.
QUOTABLE Ryan Hofer – TWU Head Coach
“We’ve been working on our attack choices – and when to make certain decisions. The team did a really nice job in their decision-making tonight. We put a lot of pressure on Regina from the baseline, which forced them to score in tough scenarios. Our defence was great – and we want to be really tough to score against. Emma [Gamache] (Abbotsford, B.C.) did a really good job controlling the back-court, and all of our defenders got a lot of balls up.
“Savannh [Purdy] and Meaghan [Mealey] both attacked really well. Neither of them made errors on the night. We’re learning how to play in different situations, and they did a good job in all of those situations we faced.
“We need to always apply that same level of pressure through all three sets. Regina applied a lot of pressure on the base-line, which was forcing us to pass the ball. We’ll adjust for tomorrow.”
NOTABLE
The Spartans are 39-18 all-time against Regina, winning seven straight over the Cougars.
TWU’s team hitting percentage landed at .290, while the Spartans held the Cougars to .032 on the night.
UP NEXT
The Spartans rematch the Cougars at the Langley Events Centre on Saturday (5:00 p.m.).
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 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
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