WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014
TRINITY WESTERN (3) WINNIPEG (0)
(25-23, 25-22, 25-12)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CARPENTIER, WAND LEAD SPARTANS IN THREE-SET WIN OVER WINNIPEG

LANGLEY, British Columbia – Sophie Carpentier (Ottawa) earned 20 kills and Chelsea Wand (Langley) collected 11 kills in an error-free performance to lead the Trinity Western women's volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-23, 25-22, 25-12) win over Winnipeg Friday at the Langley Events Centre.

The Spartans (16-5) recovered from a slow start in the first set – Winnipeg led 12-6 early on – but found their rhythm as the game progressed and managed to hit .330 as a team en route to the straight sets win. 

After putting TWU under pressure early in the opening set, the Wesmen (8-13) struggled to maintain its initial form and were held to a .181 hitting percentage. 

Playing in her last regular season weekend series as a Spartan, Wand, who will graduate this spring, hit .579 and her 11 kills marked a season-high. She also had 10 digs, which was her fifth double-digit dig effort of the year. Carpentier's 20-kill performance marked the fifth time she has earned at least 20 kills this year. The Spartans Alicia Perrin (Creston, B.C.) added 10 kills and six blocks while first-year Katelyn Devaney also had six blocks. Setter Nikki Cornwall (Coquitlam, B.C.) had 33 assists and a team-high 11 digs.

Perrin now has 381 career blocks, which puts her three behind former Spartan Dayna Jansen Van Doorn for the Canada West career record. 

For Winnipeg, it was Ozana Nikolic leading the way with a team-high eight kills and nine digs. Carleen Kruschel added seven kills while setter Ellina Domnidou had 24 assists and seven digs.

"We started a little slow today but we eventually found our rhythm," said Spartans coach Ryan Hofer. "We found our serving rhythm and our passing rhythm, which is something we struggled to find at the beginning. We put a bit of a different lineup out there, with Alicia (Perrin) on the right and Katie (Devaney) on the floor, which requires a bit of an adjustment, but I think we got it in place.

"I love that Chelsea (Wand) can go out there and have a game like that in her hometown and in front of her family. She had an outstanding match and did a great job of supporting our team."

The Wesmen were in control early in the first set and staked themselves to a 12-6 lead. However, the Spartans rallied and closed the gap to one point at 15-14. But Winnipeg responded, never allowing the Spartans to earn the equalizer, and looked on the verge of taking the first set with a 23-19 lead. But the Spartans stormed back again. After a Carpentier kill, TWU's Carly Hamilton (Calgary) subbed in to serve and with her at the back line, the Spartans earned the next five points to finish the set with a 6-0 run and a 25-23 lead.

The second set was tight from the get-go and, in the late stages, the teams found themselves tied 21-21. But that's when TWU took over. With a block from Perrin and Devaney, followed by a kill from Perrin, the Spartans took a 23-21 lead. The teams then traded points before Perrin finished the set with a kill to win 25-22. 

With a chance to finish the match, TWU jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set and never slowed down. The Spartans built a 13-4 advantage and pushed it to 10 points by the technical timeout at 16-6. A Carpentier kill extended TWU's lead to 18-6 and from there the Spartans, hitting .467 in the final set, cruised to a 13-point win.

The teams meet in a rematch Saturday at the LEC at 5 p.m. in both team's final match of the regular season. After Saturday's game, the Spartans will honour their graduating seniors, including Chelsea Fitchette, Lindsay Dykman and Wand. 

Game Notes: TWU had eight blocks to Winnipeg's four…TWU had a 4-3 edge in aces…TWU can finish no lower than third in the conference standings and with a win Saturday could move into second, providing they get some out of town help…Winnipeg entered the weekend already out of playoff contention.

-TW-