LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans defeated the University of Calgary Dinos 3-0 in their opening match of the annual West Coast Classic women's volleyball tournament Thursday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. 

The 25-21, 29-27, 25-18 victory moves the Spartans to 3-0 in preseason play. 

"Our serving was okay today and our block started to get rhythm at the end of the second and in the third set. We had to figure out some of their offensive systems. They had some different pattering and we had to figure it out," commented TWU head coach Ryan Hofer. "It is nice to play a league opponent and get a feel for where we are at. We are both a little banged up, but we are testing where we will sit in the whole league this year. So this will be a good weekend for that." 

In the first set TWU led 16-14 at the break. With the teams tied at 18-18 the Spartans manufactured a 7-to-3 run to take the opening set 25-21. 

The second set was a marathon, with both teams matching each other point-for-point. TWU trailed Calgary by one point, 16-15, at the media timeout. The Dinos extended their lead to 20-17 before the Spartans rallied and tied the set at 21-21. The teams exchanged points, with both having chances at set point, before TWU would take the final two points and the set 29-27. 

The Spartans dominated, in what would be the final set of the evening, right from the start as they built up a substantial 16-to-8 lead at the break. TWU would use the advantage to cruise to a final set 25-18 victory to take the match 3-0. 

TWU will now play Mount Royal University tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. at the Langley Events Centre. 

The Spartans open up Canada West league play at Brandon University on Oct. 16-17. TWU's home openers are Oct. 23-24 against Winnipeg. 

Match Notes: The Spartans went 1-2 in exhibition play in China last week…TWU not dropped a set against Canadian competition this year… 

-TW-