LANGLEY, B.C. – After falling 3-2 in Thursday's opening match, the Trinity Western Spartans responded with a 3-0 victory over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack Friday night to even the best-of-three Canada West semifinal at 1-1. 

The No. 1 Spartans blocking and serving were the difference in tonight's match. TWU had an impressive 14-3 edge in total blocks while finishing with eight service aces, with only six errors, while No. 7 Thompson Rivers finished with five aces and 12 errors.

Fourth-year outside hitter Hilary Howe (Calgary) with 11 kills, and five digs and second year outside Savannah Purdy (Victoria) with six kills and 13 digs led the Spartans attack. While fifth-year outside Kendra Finch (North Vancouver, B.C.) with eight kills, and 12 digs and second year outside Olga Savenchuk (Donetsk, Ukraine) with six killS, eight digs, and two aces led the WolfPack attack. TWU third-year setter Dora Komlodi (Calgary) finished the night with 19 set assists for the Spartans, while TRU's third-year setter Anastasiia Muzyka (Poltawa, Ukraine) finished with 17 assists for the WolfPack.

Unlike Thursday night, the Spartans had a strong start to Friday's match. TWU was able to take an early 8-5 lead to start the evening. Thompson Rivers was able to recover ground and tie Trinity Western 9-9. The Spartans then took their serving run to take a 16-13 lead at the technical timeout. TWU maintained at least a two-point lead for the remainder of the set, before closing the set out with a 6-2 run to take the early 25-21 lead. TWU had a sideout efficiency of 85 percent (18-21) in the opening set, while TRU finished at 68 percent (15-22). The Spartans had five blocks, while holding the WolfPack to a .098 attack efficiency. TWU finished at .237 efficiency in the opening set.

Again in contrast to Thursday night the Spartans continued their strong play to take the second set 25-22. The two teams were even early, 7-7, before the Spartans used a 9-6 run to take a 16-13 lead into the technical timeout. The WolfPack rallied out of the break to tie the match at 19-19 as TWU took a timeout. The Spartans came back on the floor and quickly established control with Ansah Odoom (Surrey, B.C.) serving and TWU's Purdy, and fifth year-middle Mikaelyn Sych (Airdrie, Alta.) blocking the Spartans to three straight points to give TWU a 22-19 lead. Trinity Western maintained the buffer to close out the second set and take a 2-0 lead on Thompson Rivers. The Spartans blocking was even better in the second set, finishing with six blocks, while the WolfPack did not register a block in the set. TWU hit at .259, while TRU hit at .182 in the second set.

The third set had the two teams going back-and-forth early. TRU opened with a 4-1 lead, before TWU used Sych's serving to take go on a 5-0 run to take a 6-4 lead. The Spartans maintained the lead to 13-11, before the WolfPack outscored TWU 5-2 to give TRU a 16-15 lead at the technical timeout. The WolfPack came out of the break with a 3-0 run take a 19-15 lead on the Spartans. Then with TRU up 21-17 TWU closed the gap quickly, with a 5-1 run to tie the match at 22-22. The Spartans were not finished as they carried the momentum with three more points to take the set 25-22 and the match 3-0.

QUOTABLE
Spartans Head Coach Ryan Hofer
"We had to control the serve and pass game a little bit better than last night. I thought our team did a really good job from the baseline, forcing TRU to play the ball. We know that we had to have a good block defence to put some pressure on them and then we had to raise our kill efficiency as a team. They're a good defensive block team. So we were able to raise it enough to be able to do what we needed to do.

"It'll be a fun game tomorrow. I think it's going to be really exciting. We want to make sure that on our side of the court, we play like we can and play authentic TWU volleyball.

NOTABLE
•    The win improves the Spartans all-time record the WolfPack to 33-3.
•    Until last night's loss TWU had won 11 straight matches against TRU.
•    Tomorrow night's winner with move on to the Canada West gold medal match as well as earning a spot in U SPORTS championship.
•    Mount Royal and Alberta are matched up in the other CW semifinal, with the Pandas leading the series 1-0. 
•    In addition to host Calgary, Canada West will send three teams to the U SPORTS national championships.

NEXT UP
The Spartans and the WolfPack will play the best of three rubber match tomorrow night at the Langley Events Centre. Time and location will be determined following the men's semifinal match.

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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