Box Score VANCOUVER – Hilary Howe (Calgary) had 19 kills to lead No. 2-ranked Trinity Western to a 3-1 (25-20, 25-23, 19-25, 25-20) win over UBC Friday at the War Memorial Gym. 

The Spartans improved to a Canada West leading 17-2, while the loss drops UBC to 8-9 on the season. 

It wasn't the cleanest game for either side with UBC committing 27 total attacking errors to Trinity Western's 25. But the Spartans managed to take advantage of their opponents' errors more regularly while hitting .144 on the night to the 'Birds' .132.

Howe finished the night with a .240 attacking along with three service aces.

Tessa Davis kick-started a T-Birds roll early in the opening set with a service ace as part of a 5-0 run to take a 7-3 lead, forcing the Spartans to burn their first timeout. The break had its desired effect as the visitors went on a 5-0 run of their own to take an 8-7 advantage.

After falling down by four at the technical timeout, the 'Birds battled back late in the opening set, led by Jayde Robertsen who put up back-to-back kills following by a nifty Brynn Pasin tip over the net to cut the deficit to 22-20. But the Spartans were able to fend off the T-Birds' charge as Savannah Purdy (Victoria) hammered her third kill of the set in timely fashion to clinch the frame.

After trading points to get to 10-10 in the second set, UBC went ahead with one of Gabrielle Attieh's team-leading 12 kills on the night while the 'Birds went on to take a 16-14 advantage at the break.

But yet again, the Spartans proved why they're such a dangerous squad, re-taking the lead 22-21, eventually holding on for the victory, putting the 'Birds on the ropes.

It was an impressive third set for UBC, rocketing out to the early lead which they held 16-7 at the timeout.

That T-Birds lead dwindled to just four at 20-16, but Attieh took charge at the net front with back-to-back kills, expanding UBC's cushion and securing the eventual set win.

Trinity Western mimicked UBC's third-set run to start the fourth but the T-Birds refused to go away quietly, taking an 8-7 lead on a Spartans attack error. But the rally was short-lived as TWU went up by four at the technical timeout, never looking back.

QUOTABLE 
Ryan Hofer – TWU Head Coach
"They're a good team, they're well coached, and I know coming into War Memorial we're going to have to scrap for it. Both teams made a lot of unforced errors and I think both teams can hit better than that and so I expect an upgrade on both sides tomorrow."

NOTABLE
•    TWU was coming off a pair of pair of home victories over UBC Okanagan in straight-sets, and sit first in conference standings at 16-2.
•    The win snaps a four-match regular season losing streak again the T-Birds. The last win against UBC was Nov. 26, 2016 (3-1).
•    The game was a rematch of last season's U SPORTS quarter-finals, which UBC won in five sets on their way to winning the national title. 

UP NEXT
The rematch is Saturday at 5 p.m. at the War Memorial Gym. 

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men's hockey and as an independent team in men's rugby. The men's and women's hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.
 
-UBC-
-TW-