WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2013
BRITISH COLUMBIA (3) TRINITY WESTERN (0)
(25-23, 25-11, 25-22)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPARTANS DROP SEASON-OPENER TO NO. 1 THUNDERBIRDS 

LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 2 Trinity Western women's volleyball team lost its home-opener 3-0 (25-23, 25-11, 25-22) to No. 1 UBC Friday at the Langley Events Centre. 

After a close first set, the defending national champion T-Birds flexed their collective muscles in a dominant second set and then hung on for a tight third-set win. 

The T-Birds were led on the attack by Lisa Barclay and Rosie Schlagintweit, who each had 14 kills while Mariah Bruinsma added a team-high three blocks and Kirsty Setterlund guided the offence with 30 assists. 

For TWU, it was Sophie Carpentier (Ottawa) with a team-high nine kills while Alicia Perrin, (Creston, B.C.) who played largely on the right side, added eight kills. First-year Katelyn Devaney (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) had a match-high six blocks while Chelsea Wand (Langley) collected a match-high 13 digs. 

The T-Birds hit .306 as a team and had five blocks while TWU hit .117 and had seven blocks. The T-Birds had five aces while TWU didn't have any.

Prior to Friday's loss, the Spartans had won 13 in a row at the Langley Events Centre, including regular season and playoff matches. The last team to beat TWU at home was UBC, as the T-Birds also won in three sets on Feb. 11, 2012. That loss two years ago snapped a then 22-match home winning streak in Canada West play.

"I don't think we performed well at all tonight," said Spartans coach Ryan Hofer. "I don't think we brought our 'A' game. We brought our low and when you do that against a good team like UBC, you're going to get beat. I think we have new players on the floor and new leadership and we have players trying to figure out their roles. We're trying to figure out what our lineup is and I don't think we have figured that out yet."

The Thunderbirds raced out to a 7-2 lead in the first set but the Spartans battled back to take a lead at 15-14 following a kill from Carpentier. Not to be deterred however, the T-Birds tallied five straight points to reestablish a four point edge. While TWU evened it at 21, UBC never trailed the rest of the way and, with the score tied 23-23, the T-Birds earned back-to-back points, capped by a Schlagintweit kill, to take the set.

The second set was all UBC, with the T-Birds opening a 14-6 lead and never slowing down. Barclay collected six kills for UBC while Juliana Kaufmanis added four kills as the T-Birds hit .517 as a team and had just one attack error on 29 attempts.  The Spartans meanwhile, hit .000 as a team and managed just five kills.

After the Spartans looked to have snatched momentum early in the third set, with TWU up 8-7, the T-Birds turned the tides right back in their favour. With a 6-0 run, thanks in large part to three kills from Schlagintweit, UBC took a 13-8 lead and didn't trail the rest of the set. With first-year setter Nikki Cornwall (Coquitlam, B.C.) brought in off the bench, the Spartans put together a valiant comeback effort, climbing all the way back to tie the set 18-18, but they were unable to ever take the lead. With UBC up 24-22, a TWU attack error gave the T-Birds the set and the match.

"I think that third set showed that if we play even okay volleyball, we can compete, but we need to play great volleyball in order to win," Hofer said. "And that's the challenge." 

The Spartans and T-Birds will play the second half of their home-and-home series Saturday at UBC at 5 p.m. 

Game Notes: Due to injury, TWU was playing without Carly Hamilton (Calgary) and was only able to use Royal Richardson (Rockey Mountain House, Alta.) sparingly...UBC had 43 digs to TWU's 42.

-TW-