LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 8 Trinity Western women's volleyball team claimed its second win of the weekend against the No. 5 Brandon Bobcats in a tight five-setter, winning 25-23, 25-18, 21-25, 17-25, 15-7 Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre.

The Spartans (8-4) came out strong in the first two sets, but failed to finish the game in the third and then were pushed to a fifth after Brandon (7-5) dominated the fourth set. However, the Spartans were able to respond in the fifth set to earn themselves the match.

Sophie Carpentier (Ottawa) had a game-high 20 kills as well as three blocks and nine digs. Alicia Perrin (Creston, B.C.) also contributed greatly to the Spartans win with 16 kills and seven blocks. Kristen Moncks (Standard, Alta.) led the game in digs, with 18. Setter Nicki Cornwall (Coquitlam, B.C.) had a game-high of 47 assists.

For the Bobcats, it was Tori Dakin who made an impact, totaling 12 kills and five aces as well as making five digs and a block. Teammate Jodie Baker had 10 kills and a game-high eight blocks.

TWU hit .210 during the game, while Brandon only hit .144. TWU totaled 12 blocks as a team and Brandon had 11.

"This is Canada West and the theme this year seems to be five-setters," said Spartans coach Ryan Hofer. "I'm pleased that my team was able to rebound. We struggled a little in both the third and fourth sets but we came out strong in the fifth set. This is huge. Brandon is an excellent team. We're fortunate that we got to play them in our home gym and it's great that we managed to get both wins."

The first set was close throughout as the Spartans were only able to pull ahead by three points at most, gaining their biggest lead of the set at 24-21. Brandon led 16-13 halfway through the set but Perrin came back with a massive kill to reestablish TWU's momentum. The Spartans finished the set strong, winning 25-23. Perrin had seven kills and two blocks in the first set alone.

At the start of the second set TWU took a quick 7-3 lead. The Spartans continued to push ahead as they moved to 11-5. Brandon was able to make up some ground however, nearly catching the Spartans at 15-14. Towards the end of the set, the Spartans went on a four-point run and a service ace from Elly Wendel (Caronport, Sask.) ended it at 25-18. Carpentier gained six kills during the set, while Perrin tallied another three.

The Spartans gave up six consecutive points to the Bobcats early in the third set and Brandon took an 11-4 lead. Brandon pushed its advantage to 14-5 and continued to lead into the technical timeout 16-8. The Spartans worked their way back to tie it up at 19-19, but the set ended in the Bobcat's favor at 25-21, after a service ace from Brandon's Vaovai Aiono. The Bobcats outhit the Spartans for the first time during the game, hitting .125 compared to the Spartan's .121.

After giving up the first point, Brandon went on a 5-1 run to begin fourth set. The Bobcats maintained their lead at the technical timeout, as they were up 16-11.Brandon continued to push forward towards the end of the set, keeping the Spartans down by nine as they had a shot at set point at 24-15. Despite another five kills for the Spartans from Carpentier and four from Perrin, Brandon claimed the set 25-17.  

Forced to a fifth set, the teams stayed neck and neck at the start. But a block by Perrin pulled the Spartans ahead 5-4 and that was followed by another block by Carpentier to put them at 6-4. The Spartans were up 8-4 at technical timeout. The Spartans continued their momentum as they went on a seven-point run before giving up a point at 11-5. A block by Carpentier put the Spartans at match point before a kill by Carpentier won the game at 15-7.

"I just asked them to be aggressive and come out swinging aggressively and serving aggressively and gut it out," Hofer said on his team's mindset after losing the fourth set. '"That's what fifth sets are. I don't think we did anything special. We managed to get on some runs. The game plan stays the same, but we were just able to execute a little better.

The Spartans return to the court Nov. 28-29 when they host Calgary at the Langley Events Centre. Brandon returns home to host Regina, also next Friday and Saturday.

Game Notes: The Spartans have now won five matches in a row and are four games above .500 for the first time this year…Brandon bettered TWU – the best blocking team in Canada West – in blocks for the second night in a row, 12-11.

-TW-