LANGLEY, British Columbia – Led by third-year middle Kaylee Plouffe’s (Sherwood Park, Alta.) 15 kills, and four blocks the No. 3 Trinity Western Spartans defeated the Brandon Bobcats 3-0 Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The win moves the Spartans to 13-2, while the loss drops the Bobcats to 1-16.
TWU fourth-year outside Kirsten Kampman (Chilliwack, B.C.) with eight kills and six digs, and second-year outside Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) with eight kills, and five digs also had strong games for the Spartans. Georgia Johnson with eight kills, and Camryn Hildebrand with six kills were the leader for the Bobcats.
Third-year setter Kendra Kern (Edmonton, Alta.) ran the Spartan attack and finished with 33 set assists, while Carly Thomson finished with 18 assists for the Bobcats.
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans and Bobcats were evenly matched in the early going of the first set. But then with TWU trailing 13-12 Plouffe went on a serving run to give the Spartans a 17-13 lead. Brandon closed the lead to two points, 22-20, but no closer as TWU took the opening set 25-21. TWU hit at .265 (13-4-34), while Brandon hit at .211 (14-6-38).
TWU carried the momentum into the second set. The Spartans quickly jumped out to an 11-6 lead. TWU extended the lead to double-digits 17-7, before taking the set. 25-13. The Spartans had a strong attack hitting at .500 (13-3-20), while Brandon hit at -.032 (7-8-31).
The third set was a battle of runs. Brandon started strong taking a 7-1 lead to open the set. Then with TWU trailing by six points, 10-4, the Spartans went on a 6-0 run to tie the set at 10-10. Brandon regained the momentum to take a 15-12 lead. But from there it was all TWU. The Spartans took the next 10 points on their way to a 25-17 third-set win to take the match 3-0. TWU hit at .129 (12-8-31), while Brandon hit at .000 (6-6-32).
QUOTABLE TWU Head Coach Ryan Hofer
“I love the depth that we showed this evening and that we were able to work through a few challenges and come out on top. Nice that we were able to push back, find our rhythm and go with it.”
“The Kaley-Kern connection was really solid tonight. I love the different runs that people went on tonight. Erika Bang (first-year, Calgary, Alta.) and Isabella Stothart (first-year, Airdrie, Alta.) did well and showed where they are at.”
NOTABLE
TWU finished the night hitting .271 (38-15-85), while Brandon finished at .069 (27-20-101).
The Spartans had a total of eight team blocks, while Brandon had 2.5 team blocks.
TWU 41 digs to Brandon’s 26. The Spartans also had a 6-1 edge in service aces.
Last week the Spartans had their unbeaten streak snapped with two road losses to the No. 4 Manitoba Bisons, 3-1 on Friday, and 3-2 on Saturday.
Last week Brandon split with the Regina Cougars at home in Brandon, Man. winning 3-0 on Friday night and losing 3-2 on Saturday.
The Spartans are 32-6 lifetime against the Bobcats.
The last time the Spartans lost to the Bobcats was 3-1 in Brandon on November 12, 2011.
TWU is on an 19-match winning streak in Canada West conference and playoff games against Brandon, 17-0 in conference play over that stretch.
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Bobcats will finish the two-game series tomorrow night in Langley, B.C.. The match is set for 4 p.m. (PT) start, and 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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