WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2013
BRITISH COLUMBIA (3) TRINITY WESTERN (1) 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SPARTANS FALL TO NO.1 UBC IN FOUR-SETTER

VANCOUVER – For the second match in as many nights, the No. 2 Trinity Western women's volleyball team lost to No. 1 UBC, as the Spartans fell 3-1 (25-19, 23-25, 25-22, 25-19) Saturday evening.

After a 3-0 loss Friday to UBC (2-0) in Langley, the Spartans (0-2) managed to push Saturday's match to four sets, but were unable to extend the match any further. After splitting their season-series each of the past two years and TWU sweeping the series in 2010-11, this is the first time the 'Birds have won both regular season matches since 2009-10.

The Spartans also haven't started a season 0-2 since 2008-09, when they lost both matches of a season-opening series on the road against Regina.

The 'Birds Lisa Barclay led the game in kills with 12, while Rosie Schlagintweit and Juliana Kaufmanis each contributed 10, and Abbey Keeping, eight. Barclay also led the game in digs, with 12, and Kirsty Setterlund wasn't far behind with 11. 

For the Spartans, Alicia Perrin (Creston, B.C.) and Royal Richardson (Rocky Mountain House, Alta.) led the Spartans with nine kills apiece, and Chelsea Wand (Langley) led TWU in digs with nine.

"I'm proud of how the girls responded today after what happened yesterday," said Spartans coach Ryan Hofer. "We were looking for them to come out and improve in some very specific areas and I thought we did that tonight. We were looking for a win, but unfortunately that didn't come our way, but there were aspects of our game which have now been revealed and we can work on.

"We have to find a way to not allow teams to go on runs. We need to side-out at a higher efficiency, but we did raise our level of play. We passed better. We served better. And our efficiency was better, but it wasn't good enough." 
 
In the first set, the Spartans began strong, finding themselves up by four early on. After a quick timeout, the 'Birds came back energized and relied on strong blocking and fierce attacks to bring the game's momentum back in their favor. In the first set alone, UBC tallied five blocks over TWU. Barclay, Schlagintweit, and Kaufmanis had remarkable kills, expertly placing their spikes in weak areas of the TWU arrangement. Kaufmanis led with five kills, while Barclay and Schlagintweit both tallied three. Kirsty Setterlund kept the Spartans guessing, consistently changing up her sets. UBC quickly began to pull away, and closed the first set 25-15 over TWU.
 
In the second set, TWU pushed back leading early in the set and looking to veteran Perrin to direct the offence. The set was tight throughout, but it was TWU pulling ahead at the end to win the set 25-23.
 
In the third, UBC opened the set with a noteworthy 5-0 run. The duo of Barclay and Keeping dominated the net, as they continuously blocked Spartan attacks. Alissa Coulter and Abbey Keeping had three kills apiece for the 'Birds, while Casie Gano and Royal Richardson each tallied three for the Spartans. As the set progressed, the 'Birds reestablished their rhythm to down the Spartans 25-22.  
 
The fourth set proved to be a tough battle between the 'Birds and the Spartans. Though the Spartans did well to hang around, the 'Birds ultimately came out on top, with Barclay sending a kill over the net to give UBC a 25-19 win.
 
Trinity Western will head out on the road for two matches at Saskatchewan next weekend, while UBC will host Manitoba for a two-game series November 1-2. 

-TW-

-Source: UBC-