BRANDON, Manitoba – After a hard-fought match Friday, the reigning CIS national champion Trinity Western Spartans played like champions, picking up a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-17) win Friday night over the host Brandon Bobcats.
 
The Spartans beat the Bobcats in every team stat category, and most importantly, on the scoreboard. Hitting .270 as a team, and notching 34 kills, the Spartans led in every set of the match, wrapping the contest up in a little over one hour.
 
Elly Wendel (Caronport, Sask.) led the offensive attack for TWU, notching 10 kills on 21 swings. Sophie Carpentier (Ottawa) was particularly efficient, scoring nine kills on 15 swings. Nikki Cornwall (Coquitlam, B.C.) had a match-high 29 assists. Katelyn Devaney (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) had a match-high 13 points, putting up six kills and seven blocks.
 
"It was a good performance again tonight," said Spartans coach Ryan Hofer. "Katie Devaney had an awesome weekend. She did a great job of blocking and had a solid kill efficiency that put our opponent into trouble. Sophie Carpentier was a rock for us. We tried to limit her volume a bit this weekend and, with that, she just passed really well for us and other people put the ball away. Elly was solid and Nikki was fast and quick and was really good.

"The team is just doing a great job of coming together and learning. It's a process, but each and every set, we're learning how to play together and we're having a ton of fun."

After subbing into the match in the second set, fifth-year left-side Shanlee McLennan paced the Bobcats with eight kills while adding two aces.

As a team, TWU had nine blocks to Brandon's six and had eight aces to the Bobcats six.
 
The win keeps TWU perfect on the season at 2-0. The loss drops Brandon's record to 0-2.
 
Up next for TWU will be their regular season home opener as the Spartans will welcome the Winnipeg Wesmen for a pair of matches on Friday and Saturday at the on-campus David E. Enarson Gym.

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