LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 5 Trinity Western women's volleyball team clinched home court advantage for first round of the playoffs with a 3-0 (25-19, 25-15, 25-20) win over Saskatchewan Friday at the Langley Events Centre.

Led by Sophie Carpentier (Ottawa), who had 13 kills and four aces, the Spartans improved to 16-5 on the season and are now tied with Alberta for second in Canada West. The Huskies dropped to 5-16.

The two teams will play in the rematch Saturday at 5 p.m. at the LEC.

After Carpentier, it was Elly Wendel (Caronport, Sask.) and Alicia Perrin (Creston, B.C.) contributing nine kills each for TWU, while Katelyn Devaney (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) had seven kills and hit .600 on the night. Perrin also had a match-high five blocks.

Emily Humbert had eight kills to lead the Huskies while Jenelle Sokoloski and Anne Hanbidge each had five kills. Jennifer Hueser had a match-high 15 digs.

As a team, TWU hit .274 compared to Saskatchewan's 077. The Spartans also had an 8-3 edge in blocks.

"I thought our attacking was so-so in the first set but then we picked it up over the final two sets," said Spartans coach Ryan Hofer, whose team hit .196 in the first set before hitting .324 the rest of the way. "It was a matter of figuring out a new team and figuring out how they block and how we're going to score points. I thought Katie Devaney hit really well with nice volume and she blocked well. I thought we also did some good things in the back court to keep the ball alive and forced them to really work to score."

The teams traded points early in the first set, but with TWU up 9-8, the Spartans went on a 3-0 run that turned the game's momentum towards the home side. The Spartans led by at least two points the rest of the way and pulled away in the late stages for a six-point win. Carpentier led TWU with six kills while Humbert had a team-high three kills for Saskatchewan.

In the second set, the Spartans took an 8-3 lead after a Devaney kill and maintained control throughout. A Carly Hamilton (Calgary) kill made it 16-9 at the technical timeout and the Spartans, who hit .400 as a team in the set, rolled to a 10-point win. Perrin and Carpentier each had four kills to lead TWU.

Midway through the third set, the Spartans took a 12-10 lead, but then the Huskies found their rhythm. On the strength of two kills from Sokoloski, Saskatchewan went on a 7-1 run to take a 17-13 lead. However, TWU responded with a run of its own to take a 19-18 lead. From there, the Spartans cruised to a five-point win, with Wendel earning the winning kill.

Game Notes: The Spartans enter the final three games of the regular season just one game behind UBC Okanagan for first place and with a game in hand…TWU has never finished first in the regular season in Canada West.

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