Box Score LANGLEY, B.C. – A game-high 15 kills from Hilary Howe (Calgary) and four service aces from Dora Komlodi (Calgary) pushed the Trinity Western Spartans to a straight-sets victory (25-19, 25-22, 25-16) and series sweep over the Winnipeg Wesmen Friday at the Langley Events Centre.
 
TWU (22-2, 2-0) now advances to take on Thompson Rivers (16-8, 2-0) in the conference semifinals at home next week.
 
Howe added seven digs and hit .625 to go with her 11 kills, while Komlodi added 23 assists for the defending conference champion Spartans. Emma Gamache (Langley) chipped in with a game-high 12 digs for TWU. 
 
Winnipeg's offence ran through Kalena Schulz and Ashleigh Laube, with Schulz contributing seven kills and hitting .190 while Laube added six kills and nine digs for the Wesmen. 
 
TWU opened the game strong with Komlodi at the line, scoring six consecutive points to open the match and take a 6-0 lead. The Wesmen would respond however, going on a 10-5 run to climb back down just one point. The Spartans would then score 10 of the next 12 points to stretch their lead, before the second service ace from Savannah Purdy (Victoria, B.C.) sealed the first set in favor of TWU, 25-19.
 
Winnipeg came out stronger in the second set, scoring nine of the opening 12 points to take a 9-3 lead.
Despite being down as much as seven points, TWU slowly inched their way back into the set before finally tying it back up at 19-19. The Spartans then took six of the final nine points to win the second set 25-22. Howe added six more kills for TWU, while Laube and Emma Parker added three second set kills apiece for Winnipeg.
 
After the Wesmen took a 4-1 lead to open the third set, TWU went on a 13-2 run to take a convincing lead of their own. The Spartans would lead the rest of the way close out the match in straight sets, and win the third 25-16. 
 
TWU hit .237 (36-13-97) in the match, while Winnipeg hit .074 (25-18-94). 
 
QUOTABLE
Ryan Hofer – TWU Head Coach
 
"You take everything one weekend at a time, one game at a time, and not allow yourself to look past the one game in front of us. Winnipeg was the team we had to dial in on and we couldn't allow ourselves to look past them until we beat them. I'm pleased with how our team came out and played, but Winnipeg came out tough and made us earn it."
 
On matching up against Thompson Rivers in the semifinals
"Thompson Rivers just went into another team's gym and taken a couple wins, so congratulations to them. We're excited to host them in our own gym, and if last weekend is any indication, we're in for some great volleyball. It's going to be another level of competition coming up and we're looking forward to it as a team."
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans advance to play Thompson Rivers, which swept MacEwan in two games (3-1, 3-2) on the road in Edmonton.
• TWU was coming off a 3-1 victory over Winnipeg in Game 1 on Thursday.
• The Spartans improve to 36-9 all-time against the Wesmen, having now won 33 games in a row overall (regular season and playoffs combined).
• TWU won both games in its last matchup against Winnipeg, a pair of straight sets wins during the Spartans home opening weekend (Oct. 25-26).  

 
NEXT UP
The Spartans semifinals series against Thompson Rivers begins Thursday at 6 p.m. (PT) at the Langley Events Centre. 

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.
 
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