LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans finish the first half of Canada West play a perfect 12-0 after defeating the Mount Royal University Cougars 3-0 Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre. 

The loss drops Mount Royal to 5-7, while the 25-12, 25-19, 25-22 win extends TWU's winning streak to 23 straight matches.

"We were strong the first and seconds sets.  In the third we started slow and found trouble finding our rhythm with our serve and serve receive.  Our front row attack kept us alive and we had to put the whole game together in order to take the set," commented TWU head coach Ryan Hofer.   

Fourth year outside Sophie Carpentier (Ottawa) with 12 kills, six digs and three aces, fourth year outside Eli Wendel (Caronport, Sask.) with 11 kills and three aces, and outside Rowyn Neufeld (Richmond, B.C.) with six kills and a 54.5 percent efficiency led the Spartans, while first year outside Carolina Alongi (Calgary) with nine kills and a game high seven digs led the Cougars attack. 

"Sophie, Eli and Rowyn had incredible numbers tonight they were pounding the ball," added Hofer 

Third year setter Nikki Cornwall with 34 assists led an efficient Spartan attack which finished the night hitting 35.1 percent (37-10-77). The Cougars finished the night hitting at 2.5 percent (25-23-79). 

Second year middle Kristin Anton (Prince George, B.C.) with a career best eight assists led a strong blocking attack for TWU which finished the evening with nine team blocks compared to MRU's five team blocks. 

"We work on our block regularly. It is one of our strengths as a team and something we commit to and we want to force you to make great shots all night to beat us. If we can be stable we will put a lot of pressure on you," said Hofer on the TWU blocking.

TWU dominated the first two sets winning 25-12 and 25-19. The third set was the tightest of the match with MRU jumping out to a 6-2 lead. The Spartans slowly gained ground and trailed by one point 16-15 at the technical break. The two teams exchanged points and were tied 21-21. From there the Spartans outscored the Cougars 4-1 to take the third set 25-22 and the match 3-0. 

The Spartans and the Cougars are off until the second semester. TWU will open up with two home games against the University of Alberta on Jan. 8-9, while MRU will open up the second half hosting Thompson Rivers. 

Match Notes: TWU finished with a side-out efficiency of 61 percent, while MRU ended the evening at 43 percent…the Spartans had nine aces, while the Cougars had seven… 

-TW-