SPARTANS ROLL TO WEEKEND SWEEP OF CASCADES

LANGLEY, B.C. – Led by middle Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.), who had a career-high 16 kills, Trinity Western earned a 3-0 (27-25, 25-12, 25-13) win over Fraser Valley to complete a weekend sweep of the Cascades Saturday at the Langley Events Centre. 

Plouffe hit .500 while committing just two attacking errors and collecting five blocks. Her offensive effort marked the second time in as many nights that Plouffe put together a career-high night in kills after registering 15 on Friday. 

Grace McGillivray (Langley) added eight kills and five blocks for the Spartans, while Jayda Harder (Waldheim, Sask.) had a career-high six blocks to lead the way at the net. Sydney Gill (St. Catharines, Ont.) had 23 assists to lead a TWU offence that hit .261. 

UFV countered with Lauren Attieh leading the Cascades with eight kills and 14 digs. Talia Attieh added six kills. The Cascades hit -.009 as a team. 

AS IT HAPPENED 
As close first set went the Spartans way, as TWU rallied late, staving off three set points before a kill from Plouffe finished the set in favour of the home side. 

In the second set, the Spartans rolled to a 13-point win, as they held UFV to a side out percentage of 29 per cent, while siding out at 61 per cent themselves. 

TWU continued to own momentum in the third set, hitting .435 as a team and running away with the set.

QUOTABLE
Ryan Hofer – TWU Head Coach
“I just love how tonight was an evening when everyone had an opportunity to contribute in different capacities. Whether it was serving, blocking at the net, playing well defensively – everyone contributed and made us better. Sidney did a great job of distributing the ball. Grace got a lot of volume tonight and she handled it well. 

“Blocking has always been one of Jayda’s strengths and it was neat to see that come through tonight. She had a great blocking night. 

“You have our middle blocker in Kaylee as the highest volume player on our team tonight. That’s a pretty rare feat. That’s a tribute to what our serve receive was doing. Our serve receive was putting us into a position where the setter can find the ball and locate Kaylee.”

NOTABLE
•    TWU out-blocked the Cascades 12-5 and had a 4-3 edge in aces. 
•    The Spartans are now 12-0 all-time against UFV.
•    TWU entered the season ranked fifth in the Canada West preseason coaches poll, while UFV was ranked first. 
•    For the second straight night, UFV largely played without the injured Gabrielle Attieh, who was last year’s U SPORTS Player of the Year. Attieh played in the game briefly as a serving sub.

UP NEXT
The Spartans travel to Winnipeg to play the Wesmen Oct. 27-28. 

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 and women’s and men’s disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 33 Canada West team championships.

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