SPARTANS PURSUE RECORDS IN FOUR SET WIN OVER GRIFFINS

LANGLEY, British Columbia – Trinity Western second-year outside hitter Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) challenged Spartans history as she led TWU to a 3-1 victory over the MacEwan Griffins Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. Boldon finished the four-set match with 23 kills, two off of the TWU record of 25, to lead the No. 4 Spartans to a 25-20, 26-24, 26-28, 25-23 victory. The win improves TWU to 18-4, while the loss drops MacEwan to 11-11.

TWU third-year setter Kendra Kern (Edmonton, Alta.) led the Spartans attack with 56 set assists to go with nine digs. While Payton Shimoda finished with 52 for the Griffins. Kern’s 56 assists ties for fourth highest in TWU history, and ties the TWU record for most set assists in a four-set match, which also ties for third-most in Canada West history.

Third-year middle Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with 16 kills, five digs, and three blocks, third-year outside Grace McGillvray (Langley, B.C.) with 12 kills, and five digs, and fourth-year Kirsten Kampman (Chilliwack, B.C.) with 10 kills, 14 digs, and two aces also had standout games for the Spartans. Mariah Bereziuk was outstanding for the Griffins finishing the night with 25 kills, 14 digs, and four blocks. Her 25 kills ties her for ninth most in Canada West history in a four-set match. Alyshia Bryks with 13 kills, and 13 digs, and Sarah McGee with 11 kills, and five blocks were also strong for the Griffins.

Second-year outside Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) with 14 kills, and five digs, fourth-year outside Kirsten Kampman (Chilliwack, B.C.) with 13 kills, and four digs, and third-year middle Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with 12 kills, and six blocks led the Spartans. Alyshia Bryks with 12 kills, and seven digs, and Mariah Bereziuk with 10 kills, six digs, and three aces led the Griffins.

TWU’s third-year libero Mikayla McBain (Burlington, Ont.) finished with 15 digs, while MacEwan’s Bronwyn Ettinger led the Griffins with 15 digs as well.

AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans took early control of the first set and quickly led 10-5 and 16-6 after a Kampman kill. The Griffin slowly climbed back into the set and after a Danielle Jodoin had cut the TWU lead to four points, 21-17. TWU outscored MacEwan down the stretch as Plouffe ended with the Spartans winning 25-20. The Spartans hit at .457 (19-3-35), while the Griffins hit at .353-16.  (15-3-34).
 
The second set was even to 9-9, then on Kampman’s serving the Spartans took a 15-10 lead. Madison Hoppus responded for the Griffins and used her serving run to tie the set at 16-16. The two teams remained even to 22-22. Then a MacEwan long serve and a kill from TWU’s Boldon gave the Spartans two set points. A Bryks kill and a block by Bryks and McGee of TWU’s Boldon tied the set at 24-24. But Boldon would have her moment as she hammered the next two points for the Spartans to give TWU the second set 26-24 and a 2-0 lead. TWU hit at .350 (17-3-40), while MacEwan hit at .378 (17-3-37).
 
TWU continued their momentum into the third set and jumped out to a five-point, 12-7 lead after a service ace from Jayda Harder. The Spartans maintained the lead to 20-15. But then the momentum of the set changed and after a kill by the Griffins Sarah McGee MacEwan had tied the set at 21-21. The two teams exchanged points, and each had a set point but remained tied to 26-26. The Griffins then prolonged the match with two straight points on a kill from Bryks and a TWU attack error game MacEwan the third set 28-26. TWU hit at .222 (18-8-45), while MacEwan hit at .405 (18-3-37).
 
The Griffins took control of the fourth set early and jumped out to a 10-5 lead. MacEwan expanded the lead to seven points, 20-13, after a kill by Payton Shimoda. The Griffins slowly played side-out ball and crept towards a fifth set. But with MacEwan leading 22-17, the Spartans found their game again. Kampman headed to the end line and after five straight serves, including two aces, she had given TWU a 6-0 run and a 23-22 lead. After exchanging points TWU’s Boldon finished off her stellar night with a hard cross-court attack to give the Spartans the set 25-23 and the match 3-1. The Spartans finished the set hitting at .278 (13-3-36), while the Griffins finished at .205 (16-7-44).
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ryan Hofer
“Very proud of the team’s composure this evening, they showed a lot of character. McEwan made some nice adjustments and they played at a super high level defensively and offensively. They had a couple of players that were hot and hard to handle, and I thought our girls just stayed composed. “
 
“Props to Maryn, she had an outstanding night for us attacking super well. Kirsten rallied us in the fourth set, when we didn’t know what was going to happen, and our back court did a great job of keeping the ball alive”.
 
“I thought Kendra did an outstanding job tonight at distributing the ball and getting the ball to the players at the right time.  She located the ball really well and did a really good job at distributing the ball and running our offence and putting us in a good position to score.” 
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans finished the night hitting at .321 (67-17-156), while the Griffins finished at .329 (66-16-152).
• MacEwan finished with an 8-3 advantage in total blocks.
• TWU had a 6-3 edge in service aces.
• Both teams had 62 digs
• Nikki Cornwall ’16 holds the TWU record for set assists with 64 set at Manitoba on November 30, 2013.
• TWU defeated MacEwan 3-0 Friday night.
• The Spartans are 15-2 lifetime against the Griffins.
• The last time the Spartans lost to the Griffins was 3-1 on February 9, 2019.
• TWU has won their last five conference matches against the Griffins.

UP NEXT
The Spartans will now head to Calgary for the final conference games of the season. TWU will take on the Calgary Dinos on Friday, February 16 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, February 17 at 7:30 p.m. (MT)  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.
 
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