REGINA – The No. 5 Trinity Western women's volleyball team rallied from a 2-1 deficit to earn a five-set (25-16, 21-25, 20-25, 25-21, 15-10) win over Regina Friday at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health & Sport.

The Cougars went into the fourth set with a chance at victory after they registered 25-21 and 25-20 in the second and third sets, but they weren't able to close out the Spartans. Trinity Western (11-4) jumped out to a big early lead in the fourth and survived a late Cougars (4-11) charge to force a deciding set with a 25-21 win.

The Spartans, who have now won eight straight matches, then led from wire to wire in the fifth set to nab a 15-10 victory.

"There's nothing like a five-setter to start the second semester," said Spartans coach Ryan Hofer. "But that's nothing new in Canada West. I thought we played well in three of the five sets tonight. Full credit to Regina. They played really well. They're scrappy and tough in their own gym. Trying to find flow after the Christmas break is always a challenge. We had moments where we found it and then moments where we struggled. We're happy with the win but will continue to work on getting into more of a rhythm."
 
Sophie Carpentier (Ottawa) led Trinity Western with 16 kills and added a match-high five service aces, while Alicia Perrin (Creston, B.C.) had 11 kills and was in on 11 of her team's 24 blocks on the night.
 
Besides the efforts from Carpentier and Perrin, Trinity Western also had a nine-kill, seven-dig, seven-block performance from Royal Richardson and 40 assists, 11 digs, and seven blocks from setter Vanessa Cornwall. Katelyn Devaney added nine blocks for the Spartans.

Regina's Michelle Sweeting had a career-high 21 kills to break her previous career-high of 20, which was set earlier this year against Mount Royal. She also had a team-high six blocks for the Cougars, while Tori Glynn added 12 kills and 10 digs and Leah Shevkenek had 4 assists and 12 digs. Libero Lindsay Braul also broke into double figures in digs, ending up with 10 for the match.  

The Cougars and Trinity Western will meet again on Saturday night at 5 p.m. to close out the two-match weekend set.

Game Notes: The Spartans haven't lost since Oct. 31 when they lost a five-setter against Manitoba…the Spartans are 5-2 in five-set matches this year.

-TW-