SPARTANS FALL TO PANDAS IN FIVE SET THRILLER

LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 5 Alberta Pandas will be hosting next week’s Canada West Final Four on the backs of a thrilling 3-2 victory over the No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans Sunday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The Pandas rallied to defeat the Spartans 21-25, 25-21, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13. The loss was only the second of the season for Trinity Western.

Avery Heppell with 15 kills, five blocks, and five digs, Savannah Purdy with 13 kills, 10 digs, and three aces, and Mikayla Benterud with 13 kills, six blocks and two aces led the Spartans. While Julia Zonneveld with 17 kills, and 22 digs and Kory White with 16 kills, 15 digs, and four blocks, and Erin Corbett with 15 kills and 14 digs led the Pandas. TWU setter Olivia Heinen finished with 39 set assists to lead the Spartans, while Justine Kolody led the Pandas with 49 set assists.

AS IT HAPPENED
The opening set was a back-and-forth contest. The Pandas took the first three points and then led 4-1. The Spartans responded to lead 8-7. Then with TWU up by four points, 13-9, Alberta went on their own 5-0 run to lead 14-13. After trading points, the Spartans took the next three points to lead 18-15. The Pandas scrambled back to tie the set at 19-19. With the two teams tied at 21-21 the Spartans were able to take the final four points to take the set 25-21. In the set there were seven tied scores and five lead changes. Both teams hit at .216. TWU was 12-4-37, while Alberta was 13-5-37. TWU had four total blocks to Alberta’s zero. The Spartans also led 4-2 in service aces.

In the second set the Pandas jumped out to a 10-6 lead early. But with Alberta leading 12-9 TWU went on a 9-2 run to lead 18-14. Then the Pandas took over the later part of the set outscoring the Spartans 11-3 to even up the sets at 1-1 with a 25-21 win. TWU hit at .111 (10-6-36), while Alberta hit .205 (13-5-39). Alberta had a 2-1 edge in total blocks in the set and a 3-2 edge in service aces.

The third set had a number of extended rallies as both teams battled for control of the match. The set started with the two teams’ dead even to start. Playing side-out ball the two teams matched each other point for point to 10-10. TWU looked to gain some space with a 4-1 run to lead 14-11, before leading 16-14 at the technical break. Alberta came out of the break and took the next three points to lead 17-16 and send TWU into a timeout. The Pandas maintained the two point lead to 21-19. Then the Spartans took over the end of the set scoring six of the last seven points to win the set 25-22 and take a 2-1 set lead. TWU finished the set hitting .171 (13-7-35), while Alberta hit at .054 (9-7-37). Alberta had a 3-2 edge in blocks and a 3-2 edge in service aces.

Alberta responded in the fourth set by opening the set with four straight points. TWU rallied to eventually take a 14-13 lead. The Pandas countered by taking seven of the next eight points to lead 19-15. The Spartans then had their own 5-1 run to tie the set at 20-20. From that point Alberta took over the set to even the match at 2-2 with a 25-21 win. TWU at .167 (14-7-42), while Alberta hit at .178 (13-5-45). Both teams had three blocks, while Alberta had the lone ace.

The fifth set was back and forth. TWU led 4-2 early, but Alberta held the one point 8-7 edge at the cross-over. The Spartans extended the lead to three points, 13-10. Then the Pandas took over the final set scoring five straight points to take the match 15-13. In the final set Alberta 15-13.

NOTABLE

• TWU is 13-29 lifetime in Canada West conference play against Alberta.
• The last time the Spartans met the Pandas in Canada West post season play was the 2019-20 Canada West Gold Medal match, which TWU won 3-2 (26-24, 25-23, 18-25, 18-25, 15-8)
• The last time the Spartans lost to the Pandas in Canada West Play was January 9, 2016, when Alberta prevailed 3-2.
• The Spartans ended the night hitting .176 (59-28-176), while the Pandas hit at .191 (59-24-183).
• TWU had 12 team blocks to Alberta’s 10. Both teams had nine service aces and 11 service errors.
• The Canada West Final Four schedule will be played released Monday.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ryan Hofer
“Alberta is a great team and they play great volleyball. That is a typical game when we play U of A, both teams are going at it. It was a lot of fun out there this afternoon.”

“A big five set match is kind of what we want going into the Final Four. Being tested and being able to play great volleyball. We got that tonight. Our middles did a great job of attacking tonight, our setters did a good job on their distribution, and I’m proud of our defenders on how they stood in there and got balls up in the air and getting extended rallies.”

Alberta Head Coach Laurie Eisler
“I really liked our stick-with-it-ness. There were times when we were really frustrated and we just hung in there and fought through the challenging times and found solutions. I think we kept ourselves in a really good mindset throughout the match.”

In the fifth set on coming back from being down 13-10:
“We got Corbett on the service line, which helped. But sometimes it is about refusing to loose. There is only so much we can do on our side and believing in ourselves and keeping the ball off of the floor, it really is the simple things. Just willing to fight through it.”

Hosting Final Four
“Anything can happen in the Final Four. The four teams that are there are so good. So it is going to be a battle. We had some graduating athletes who were disappointed in their last match at home, so there was a lot on the line for us today besides winning the Pool. So having the privilege to be able to go back and play at home is exciting for us.”

UP NEXT
The Spartans will also head to Alberta for the Final Four after earning second place in their play-off pool with a 1-1 record. Alberta finishes the pool play at 2-0.The Spartans will open up on Friday, March 18 against a to-be-determined opponent. All matches can be seen live on Canadawest.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 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.

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