LANGLEY, B.C. – No. 1-ranked Trinity Western defeated Thompson Rivers in straight-sets (25-22, 25-14, 25-20) at the Langley Events Centre on Friday, riding a 12-kill performance from Savannah Purdy (Victoria). Purdy also made three aces in the win.
The Spartans (19-2) also got strong performances from Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.), who made nine kills in the victory, and the outside-hitting duo of Meaghan Mealey (Calgary) and Grace McGillivray (Langley, B.C.), who each made seven kills.
On the other end of the court, the WolfPack’s (7-14) team-high in kills came from Brooklyn Olfert. Olfert hit .148, chiming in with four digs and a block as well.
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans held off a well-played set from TRU, taking a 25-22 victory. Purdy led the set in kills with five in the frame. Olfert led the WolfPack in kills, putting down three.
Purdy added four more kills to her total in the second set as the Spartans rolled to a 25-14 victory in the second set.
Although TRU surged late in the final set of the match, the Spartans were able to close out their third-set lead, winning 25-20.
QUOTABLE Ryan Hofer – TWU Head Coach
“I thought that our efficiency was pretty solid, and we sided out at a good pace. They have some good servers who put us in tough places, so we’re going to have to take a look at that heading into tomorrow’s game. A big shout-out to Grace [McGillivray] for her performance tonight – she was tearing it up.
“I would say our in-percentage was a little lower than usual, so I think we can do better job in our serving tomorrow, but a lot of credit goes to TRU. I thought they put a lot of pressure on us, and they’re a great passing team. They forced us to try a little more than we should have instead of being steady at the line. Overall, it was a good night.”
NOTABLE
The Spartans are 47-5 all-time against TRU, winning eight of their last 10 over the WolfPack.
McGillivray’s seven-kill performance was very efficient. The second-year outside only made one error, ending her night with a hitting percentage of .500.
TWU hit the ball well as a team, hitting .362 to oust TRU’s team percentage of .160.
UP NEXT
The Spartans rematch TRU at (5pm PT) on Saturday at the Langley Events Centre. TWU will be recognizing six graduating athletes after the match.
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, as well as women’s and men’s disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.