SPARTANS PUSHED BY COUGARS

REGINA, British Columbia – Led by second-year outside Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) with 18 kills, and two aces the Trinity Western Spartans were able to squeak by a determined Regina Cougars squad 3-1 to remain unbeaten in Canada West, Friday night at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport in Regina, Sask. The 25-23, 29-27, 23-25, 25-12 win improves the No. 2 Spartans to 7-0, while the loss drops the Cougars to 0-7.

In addition to Boldon, the Spartans had strong games from third-year middle Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with 13 kills, and four blocks, and fourth-year outside Kirsten Kampman (Chilliwack, B.C.) with 12 kills, and 11 digs. Bailey Balaberda with 16 kills and 15 digs, and Piper Harkness with eight kills, and three blocks were top scorers for the Cougars.

TWU’s second-year setter Sydney Gill (St. Catharines, Ont.) led the Spartans attack with 37 set assists, while Cassadi Klapak led the Cougars with 36 assists.

AS IT HAPPENED
The first set appeared to be headed Trinity Western’s way after the Spartans went up 19-12 to force Regina’s second timeout, but the Cougars responded with the next four points and six of the next seven coming out of the break. The U of R got to within one point of TWU on three different occasions late in the set, but couldn’t tie it up and the visitors took the opening set by a 25-23 margin.
 
The second set saw the Cougars go on an 8-2 run to turn what had been a four-point Trinity Western lead into a 22-20 advantage for Regina. The Cougars had three opportunities at set point but couldn’t convert, and Trinity Western made good on its second chance at set point on a Jayda Harder ace that gave the Spartans a 29-27 victory.
 
In the third set, the two teams combined for eight tie scores and four lead changes before the Cougars finally broke through at the end of the set following a late timeout at 23-23. Samantha Krausher hammered a kill down the line from the left side, then Bailey Balaberda and Piper Harkness combined to block an attack from Trinity Western’s right that the Spartans weren’t able to fully recover from. That gave the Cougars a 25-23 win and pushed the match to four sets.
 
It was all Trinity Western in the fourth set. The Spartans jumped out to a 16-5 lead and cruised to a 25-12 win to clinch their seventh win in as many Canada West matches this season.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ryan Hofer
“Full props to Regina tonight. They played really well and put a lot of pressure on us and forced us to raise our level as well, which is what we wanted. We came here looking for some great volleyball and we found it this evening.”
 
“I think that there are areas that we can improve upon and we are going to look at where we need to make adjustments. This is what makes Canada West a lot of fun. You play a lot of great teams and it forces you to get better every night, and I know that this is going to make us better.”
 
“Props to Kampman, Bolden, and Plouffe this evening, who hit with great efficiency and took a pretty heavy load for us tonight. Everyone who came off the sidelines contributed to our outcome and made us better.”
 
NOTABLE

• TWU finished the night hitting at .276 (54-17-134), while Regina finished at .155 (48-28-129)
• The Spartans had eight team blocks, while the Cougars had nine.
• TWU finished with a 9-7 advantage in service aces.
• The Cougars had 56 digs, while the Spartans finished with 49.
• The Spartans are 41-28 lifetime against the Cougars.
• The last time TWU lost to Regina was 3-1 on January 19, 2018, in Langley, B.C.

 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Cougars will finish the weekend series tomorrow at 6 p.m. (CT) at the CKHS in Regina, Sask. Match 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-