WVB: Spartans headed to nationals with sweep of Wesmen

LANGLEY, British Columbia– The No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans (22-2, 4-0) punched their ticket to the Canada West final and the U SPORTS championship with an impressive straight sets win over the No. 5 Winnipeg Wesmen (18-6, 2-3) Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The Spartans will host next week’s Canada West final on the back of a 25-17, 25-7, 25-18 victory.
 
Meaghan Mealey (Calgary) with 11 kills and 12 digs, and Savannah Purdy (Victoria) with 10 kills, 10 digs, and two aces led the Spartans, while Emma Parker (St. Adolphe, Man.) with eight kills, and seven digs led the Wesmen attack. TWU’s Dora Komlodi (Calgary) finished the night with 35 set assists, while her counterpart with Winnipeg, Portia Switzer (White City, Sask.)  finished with 17 set assists.  TWU libero Emma Gamache (Abbotsford, B.C.) had a game-high 14 digs.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans came out strong and quickly jumped out to 12-4 lead to start the match. The Wesmen slowly chipped away at the Spartans’ lead and cut the margin to two points, trailing 18-16. But that was as close as Winnipeg would get in the set as Trinity Western closed out the set with at 7-1 run to take the opening set 25-17. TWU hit .290 (12-3-31), while Winnipeg hit at .114 (10-6-35).
 
TWU continued their strong play into the second set and quickly led 9-3. The Spartans expanded the lead to 14-5 and forced the Wesmen into a timeout. The Spartans continued their strong play and finished off the set with an 11-2 run to take the set 25-7 and a 2-0 set lead. TWU hit an impressive .517 (16-1-29), while Winnipeg hit at -.115 (4-7-26).
 
Winnipeg had a better start in the third set and led 5-4 early. But Trinity Western took control of the middle part of the set and jumped out to a 12-7 lead with an 8-3 run and forced Winnipeg into a timeout. TWU kept going and led 20-14 when Winnipeg took their second timeout of the set. The Spartans never let the Wesmen into the set as they closed out the match with a 25-18.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ryan Hofer
“We had some adjustments that we needed to make moving into tonight’s game, so I thought the team did a really nice job in making those happen. The team executed at a really high level too, Meaghan Mealey was excellent, Dora [Komlodi] distributed well, and everyone had a solid performance. We did a lot of learning, and growing coming into this weekend – I’m proud of what we can bring to our next weekend.”
 
“We’re pumped to play at home – we love our fans. Coming in and enjoying an opportunity to have fun together is always great, so we’re excited to host the final.”
 
Phil Hudson – Winnipeg Head Coach
“TWU was at the top of their game, and when the top team in Canada is playing that way, it’s hard to get level with their performance. We’re disappointed with tonight’s performance – it has been a difficult couple of weeks with lots of games, and not many practices. Now, we need to get back to Winnipeg and regroup so we have a chance at getting to nationals.”
 
NOTABLE
• The Spartans are 38-9 lifetime, and 33-9 in conference play against the Wesmen.
• Trinity Western has not lost to Winnipeg, 3-2, since November 13, 2004, in Winnipeg. A 33-match winning streak.
• TWU finished the night hitting at .292 (42-11-106), while Winnipeg finished at .029 (21-18-102).
• The Spartans also had the edge in blocks 5-4, and in service aces at 7-2.
• The match took 70 minutes to complete.
• Trinity Western advanced to the semi-final with a 2-0 series win over UBC Okanagan, while Winnipeg advanced with a 2-1 series win over Fraser Valley.
• The finished the season No. 1 in CW at 22-2, while Winnipeg finished No. 5 at 18-6.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will host the Canada West Gold medal match next Saturday, March 11. TWU’s opponent and game time are to be determined. While Winnipeg will head home and wait to see where they will be traveling for the bronze medal match, with the winner advancing to the national championship. Both matches can be seen live on CanadaWest.TV.
 
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