WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2014
TRINITY WESTERN (3) WINNIPEG (0)
(25-17, 25-23, 25-19)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PERRIN SETS CANADA WEST CAREER BLOCKING RECORD IN WIN

LANGLEY, British Columbia – It was a night to remember for Trinity Western's Alicia Perrin (Creston, B.C.) as she collected six blocks to break the Canada West career blocks record while helping the Spartans women's volleyball team to a 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-19) win over Winnipeg Saturday at the Langley Events Centre. 

The fourth-year Perrin now has 387 career regular season blocks in four years with TWU, surpassing former Spartan Dayna Jansen Van Doorn, who finished her career with 384 blocks, to claim the conference mark.

"Alicia has been working hard since her very first year," said Spartans coach Ryan Hofer. "She has definitely learned the art of the block. She's learned to block out of the middle and now she's learning how to do it out of the right side. She gets her hands on the ball and getting that record is just awesome."

Perrin's feat came in a tidy Spartans win that saw them complete the regular season with a 17-5 record. The Spartans finished tied for second in the conference with Brandon, but will enter the playoffs ranked third overall as they will lose the sets won/sets lost tiebreaker.

Trinity Western will host a Canada West best-of-three quarter-final Feb. 13, 14 and, if necessary, 15 at the LEC. 

"I'm pleased with our season," Hofer said. "There are a couple of losses that I'd love to have back but I think we learned from them and grew from them and I'm hoping it's going to make us stronger going into the playoffs

The Wesmen finish the season with an 8-14 record and ninth in the conference. 

In Saturday's win, Sophie Carpentier (Ottawa) led TWU with 16 kills and three blocks while Perrin, along with her six blocks, added five kills.Casie Gano (Sundre, Alta.) had six blocks herself while libero Kristen Moncks (Standard, Alta.) had a team-high 11 digs. Setter Nikki Cornwall (Coquitlam, B.C.) had 23 assists. 

For the Wesmen, Ozana Nikolic had a team-high 11 kills and 13 digs. Chelsea Jones added eight kills while Alicia Perry had seven kills and three blocks. Setter Ellina Domnidou had a match-high 29 assists. 

As a team, the Spartans hit .152 while holding Winnipeg to a .000 hitting percentage in all three sets. 

The Spartans, who lead the CIS in blocks per set, were particularly effective at the net Saturday, collecting 13 as a team. Winnipeg responded with just five blocks.

"One of the strengths of this team is that we can block the ball," Hofer said. "We did that again tonight. We were patient and we made great adjustments and then we went after it. We blocked very well tonight, which helps our defence and, in turn, our offence."

After a back and forth start to the opening set, the Spartans took over in the middle stages, turning a 13-12 game into a 25-17 win. With Carpentier collecting five of TWU's 10 kills, the Spartans took the set by scoring five of the last six points.

In the second set, the Spartans opened a 10-4 lead after a Perrin block and then pushed their advantage to eight at 16-8. But, with TWU up 24-19, the Wesmen launched a comeback attempt, scoring five straight points to make it 24-23. However, Perrin's fourth block of the set, and the one that gave her the record, stopped Winnipeg's rally as TWU took the set 25-23.

With the scored tied 11-11 in the third set, a Carpentier kill launched a 3-0 TWU run that gave the Spartans 14-11 lead and an advantage they wouldn't relinquish. After the Spartans took a 15-12 lead, Winnipeg never climbed closer than three points and TWU earned the set 25-19.

Game Notes: The Spartans have earned each of their last nine wins in just three sets…TWU finished the season with wins in 12 of its final 13 outings…the Spartans honour their graduating seniors Saturday, including Chelsea Wand (Langley), Chelsea Fitchette (Walnut Grove, B.C.) and Lindsay Dykman (Terrace, B.C.).

-TW-