ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – The No. 1 ranked Trinity Western Spartans swept the Fraser Valley Cascades (25-16, 25-12, 25-16) at the Envision Financial Athletic Centre on Thursday night.
The Spartans (12-1) were lifted by an outstanding performance by Mikayla Benterud (Sherwood Park, Alta.) while UFV (6-8) struggled to beat TWU’s blocking efforts, hitting .078 on the night.
Benterud put down five kills on a .500 efficiency while mixing in four service aces, three block assists, and seven digs. The third-year middle wasn’t the only Spartan who put together a strong performance as Avery Heppell (Langley, B.C.) enjoyed a spectacular night at the net. Heppell had the game high in kills (10) on a stellar .667 kill rate.
AS IT HAPPENED
With the first set only bearing a 16-15 TWU lead, two massive serving runs by Benterud and Olivia Heinen (Langley, B.C.) carried the Spartans to a 25-16 set victory.
With a 9-1 run closing out the first set, TWU continued to excel, getting out to a swift 8-1 lead which forced the Cascades into a timeout. Although Savannah Purdy’s (Victoria) serving run of seven was stunted out of the timeout, TWU continued to roll as one of Benterud’s five kills closed the second set at a 25-12 victory for the visitors.
The Spartans continued to impress in the fourth set after moving to an immediate 4-0 lead ignited by Heinen’s serving combined with Purdy’s attacking prowess. Although the lead continued to grow substantially, the Cascades fought back, cutting their deficit to only three points (9-6). With TWU’s lead floating around three points for most of the set, a kill from Jayden Bontkes (Langley, B.C.) led to yet another strong run of serving from Mikayla Benterud, who proceeded to extend TWU’s advantage to eight points. The third, and final set of the night ended at a 25-16 line favouring the Spartans.
NOTABLE
It was another night of success for TWU’s middles as Heppell and Benterud combined for 15 kills.
TWU’s total hitting percentage landed at .333.
The Spartans have now swept their opponents in five consecutive matches. TWU’s winning streak in conference play is now at nine with their last, and only loss of the season coming at the hands of UBC on Nov. 27th.
QUOTABLE TWU Head Coach Ryan Hofer
“Our middles did a really nice job offensively tonight. Avery Heppell hit .667 on 15 attempts, [Mikayla] Benterud hit well tonight as well. Our servers also did an awesome job tonight of putting the ball in tough spots combined with a strong in percentage.
“We’re preparing for the playoffs. We need to respect each opponent and where they’re at while controlling our standards for our own play. If UFV comes to play, then we’re going to have a great game. If not, we’re going to have to keep going. We want to force teams to play at the highest level we can. UFV did that for parts of the night, I thought they played well. We wanted to make sure that we kept our standard high for as long as possible so we can prepare to go deep in the playoffs.”
UP NEXT
The Spartans are set to rematch UFV for their graduating senior night at the Langley Events Centre tomorrow (6 p.m., PT).
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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