SPARTANS RALLY FOR BEST SEASON IN PROGRAM HISTORY

KELOWNA, British Columbia – The No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans fell behind 2-1, but were able to dominate the final two sets to earn a 3-2 victory over the UBC Okanagan Heat Saturday afternoon in Kelowna, B.C. The 25-17, 21-25, 20-25, 25-11, 15-8 victory gives the Spartans a final conference record of 15-1, while the loss drops the Heat to .500 at 8-8. The 15-1 record represents the first time in TWU history that the Spartans have the finished the season with only a single defeat at the end of conference play. The .938 winning percentage is also the best in TWU women’s volleyball Canada West program history.

Mikayla Benterud with a career best 14 kills, three blocks, and one service ace, Avery Heppell with seven kills, seven blocks, and one ace and Meaghan Mealey with seven kills, seven digs, four blocks, and two aces led the Spartans. While Amaya Perry with 10 kills, eight digs, and two blocks and Sydney Grills with 10 kills, four digs, and four blocks led the Heat.

AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans came out strong to start the match. TWU quickly jumped out to a four point, 6-2, lead, which they expanded to 10 points, 16-6, at the technical break. The Heat gained momentum near the end of the set to cut the Spartan lead to six points, trailing 23-17. But the Spartan shut the door on the first set taking the final two points to take the opening set 25-17. The Spartans hit at .261 (7-1-23) in the opening set, while the Heat hit at .216 (14-6-37).

The second set was even early with the two teams knotted up at 10-10. Then the Heat took over the middle of the set with an impressive 6-0 run to lead 16-10 at the technical timeout. Out of the break the Spartans used a 7-3 run to cut the Heat lead to two points, trailing 19-17. The two teams sided-out for eight points, then, with UBC-O leading 23-21, the Heat were able to take the final two points to win the set, 25-21 and even the match at 1-1. TWU hit .125 (12-8-32), while UBC-O hit (11-0-35).

The Spartans started slowly in the third set and quickly found themselves down 5-0. TWU recovered to cut the UBC-O lead to one point, trailing, 6-5. But the Heat quickly regained their five point lead by taking the next four points, to lead 10-5.  The Spartans again closed the margin, but still found themselves trailing by three points, 16-13, at the technical break. TWU was unable to get closer as UBC-O took the third set 25-20 to take a 2-1 set lead. TWU’s attack struggled in the third set as the Spartans hit at -.050 (7-9-40), while UBC-O’s wasn’t much better as the Heat hit at .088 (11-8-34).

The Spartans regained their form in the fourth set. TWU took an early 8-4 lead and never looked back. TWU expanded the lead to nine points, 16-7. The Spartans keep rolling through the remainder of the set, leading 22-10, before taking the set 25-12. The Spartans offence was dominating in the fourth set. TWU hit at .556 (11-1-18), while the Heat only hit at .083 (8-6-24).

TWU’s middle attack and blocking took over midway in the fifth set. With TWU leading 5-4, the Spartans were able to dominate as they outscored the Heat 8-2 to take a 13-6 lead. UBC-O took a couple of points, but the Spartans were too strong as they closed out the fifth set 15-8 to take the match 3-2. TWU hit at .364 (10-2-22) in the final set, while UBC-O hit at .071 (5-4-14).

NOTABLE

• The Spartans best season in Canada West conference play was in 2019-2020 when TWU finished 22-2. Which is a .917 winning percentage.
• TWU is 17-5 life-time in conference play against UBC Okanagan.
• The last time the Spartans lost to the Heat was October 28, 2017, when UBC-O won 3-1 in Langley, B.C. TWU has not lost to UBC-O in Kelowna, B.C. since October 18, 2014, when the Heat prevailed 3-2.
• TWU finished the night hitting at .193 (47-21-135), while UBC-O hit at .174 (49-24-144).
• The Spartans had the edge in Aces 11-2, and Total Blocks 13-9.
• Rookie Kaylee Plouffe had a career night hitting .625 with no attack errors (5-0-8).

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ryan Hofer
“Really proud of the resolve that our girls showed tonight. To be able to adjust, to be able to figure out difficult situations and circumstances, and to be able to rally back after being down was very impressive. It was really nice to see us start to click and figure things out.”

“It was great volleyball and overall the weekend was phenomenal volleyball. UBC-O played great and forced really good volleyball across the board.”

“Our middles were on point and our setters did a remarkable job. Hats off to Kaylee Pluffe and Ansah Odoom who really had an impact in the final set.”

UP NEXT
The Spartans will host the opening round of the Canada West playoffs March 4-6. TWU will host Brandon (E2), Calgary (C3) and Fraser Valley (W4). With the top two teams advancing to the next round.

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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