LANGLEY, British Columbia – On the strength of 21 kills from Elly Wendel (Caronport, Sask.), the No. 3 Trinity Western women's volleyball team rallied from an early deficit to knock off local rival and No. 6-ranked UBC 3-1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-16, 29-27) Friday at the Langley Events Centre.

With Wendel hitting .326 and committing just six errors on 46 attempts, the Spartans, who were playing without injured star outside Sophie Carpentier (Ottawa), came back from a one set deficit to earn the win and improve to 20-3 on the season. The win also helped TWU get their first 20-win season in program history.

The Spartans trailed 22-20 in the fourth set, but a four-point run put TWU back in the lead and on match point. After the teams traded points, with both sides having opportunities to win, the Spartans finally sealed the win after a UBC error at 29-27.

Beyond Wendel, who also had three blocks and two aces, Mariel Garcia (Winnipeg), who switched from libero to the outside in Carpentier's absence, had 11 kills and hit .304 while still picking up a match-high 14 digs. Katie Devaney (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) had nine kills without an attacking error while Nikki Cornwall (Coquitlam, B.C.) had 46 assists and Kristin Anton (Prince George, B.C.) had a match-high seven blocks. First-year Brie O'Reilly (Langley) got her first start in a Spartans uniform and collected 10 digs from the libero position.

Danielle Brisebois led UBC with 15 kills and Juliana Kaufmanis had 13 kills while hitting .500 and tallying 10 digs. Alessandra Gentile had 36 assists and 10 digs.

"I'm very proud of the girls and very pleased with how they fought tonight," said Spartans coach Ryan Hofer. "I asked them to play as a group tonight and play as one unit and to just fight. Even though we were using a different lineup, I thought the girls showed some great composure and battled to the end.

"We've been watching Brie pass all week and she's been doing an outstanding job in practice, so we thought we'd give her a shot. Mariel has been banging the ball well in practice and so we thought, 'why not?' We put some parts together and they really performed well and I think we found a nice combination."

With the teams tied 12-12 in the first set, the T-Birds went on a 3-0 run, which gave the visitors the lead for good. A service ace from Laura Worsley put UBC up 20-16 and, from there, the T-Birds put the set away. Three straight UBC kills – two from Gentile and one from Brisebois – gave the T-Birds the set at 25-19.

The Spartans found their rhythm in the second set, opening a 12-5 lead after a Devaney kill. TWU extended its advantage to nine points at the technical timeout. The T-Birds got back within two points, at 21-19, but the Spartans closed it out late, tallying the winning point with a kill from Wendel. The Spartans hit .256 in the second set while UBC hit just .118 after hitting .172 in the opening set.

In the third set, the teams exchanged points up to 10-10, but the Spartans broke the set open with a 6-0 run that was capped by a Garcia kill that sent TWU into the technical timeout up by six. From there, TWU held off the T-Birds, pulling away for a nine-point win. The Spartans hit .500 as a team while holding UBC to a .174 hitting percentage.

The T-Birds scored the first four points of the fourth set, but the Spartans quickly responded and knotted the set 7-7 after back-to-back Wendel kills. TWU took a 16-14 lead into the break, but the T-Birds clawed back up, going ahead 18-17. The T-Birds took a 22-20 lead only to see TWU tally four straight points to go up 24-22, before eventually ending the set and the match at 29-27.

Despite the win, the Spartans saw their hopes of a first place finish dashed earlier in the evening when UBC Okanagan earned a three-set win over Mount Royal.

The two teams are back on the court Saturday at 5 p.m. for the final match of the regular season.

Game Notes: The Spartans will honour graduating senior Mariel Garcia in a special post-game ceremony on Saturday…With a top three spot secured, the Spartans will host a playoff series for the 11th consecutive season…TWU left side Carpentier was sidelined with an injury sustained last weekend.

-TW-