SPARTANS ENTER THE POSTSEASON WITH WIN OVER DINOS

CALGARY, Alberta – The No. 4 Trinity Western Spartans enter the postseason with a 3-1 win over the Calgary Dinos Saturday night at the Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary. The 25-22, 25-18, 19-25, 25-22 win moves the Spartans to 19-5, while the loss drops the Dinos to 9-15. The win also moves TWU into sole possession of fourth place in Canada West.  

Rookie outside Erika Bang (Calgary, Alta.) with a career-high 10 kills, fourth-year outside Kirsten Kampman (Chilliwack, B.C.) with nine kills, and five aces, and third-year outside Grace McGillivray (Langley, B.C.) with eight kills, and five digs led the Spartans. Daisy Olsen with 13 kills, three aces, and Sheridan Coninx with 11 kills, five blocks, and one ace led the Dinos.

TWU second-year setter Sydney Gill (St. Catharines, Ont.) finished with 24 set assists, while Calgary setter Evelyn Kath finished with 33 set assists to lead the Dinos

TWU’s third-year libero Mikayla McBain (Burlington, Ont.) finished with 16 digs, while Calgary’s Evelyn Kath had 11 digs for the Dinos.

AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans and the Dinos were evenly matched for much of the opening set, with the teams tied at 18-18. Three straight TWU kills put the Spartans up 21-18, a lead that the Spartans would have at the end of the set, winning 25-22.TWU hit at .276 (14-6-29), while Calgary hit at .312 (13-3-32).
 
TWU carried their momentum into the second set and took 10-5 and 16-12 leads. The Spartans never let the Dinos close in the set as TWU prevailed 25-18. The Spartans hit at .300 (8-2-20), while the Dinos struggled at .048 (13-11-42).
 
The Dinos held a one-point lead, 7-6, early, but Calgary took control with a 10-3 run to lead 16-10 midway through the set. The Spartans were never able to get close as the Dinos took the set 25-19 and force a fourth set. TWU hit at -.028 (8-9-36), while Calgary hit at .278 (14-4-36).
 
Calgary came out strong in the fourth set and quickly took a 9-5 lead. But TWU responded with a 6-2 run to take an 11-10 lead. A Calgary timeout did not slow the Spartans down as TWU expanded their lead to 16-12. The Dinos closed the set to one point, trailing 18-17. The Spartans quickly expanded their lead again to five points, 22-17, with four straight points. The Dinos were unable to fully close the gap as the Spartans took the set 25-22 and the match 3-1.
 
NOTABLE

• TWU finished the night hitting at .193 (42-19-119), while Calgary hit at .171 (52-27-146).
• The Spartans had a 14-10 edge in service aces, and 13-7 in total blocks.
• Last night the Spartans lost 3-2 to the Dinos in a match that took 2:45 to play.
• The Spartans are 37-38 lifetime against the Dinos.
• The last time the Spartans lost to the Dinos in conference play was 3-2, February 3, 2018, in Calgary, Alta.
• TWU has now won nine of their last 10 conference and play-off matches against Calgary.

 UP NEXT
The Spartans will now host the opening round of the Canada West playoffs this Thursday-Saturday in the best-of-three series at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The matches 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-