LANGLEY, B.C. – Trinity Western hosted the UBC Okanagan Heat at the Langley Events Centre on Friday, sweeping the visitors in three (25-23, 25-20, 25-20).
 
The Spartans (8-1) were spectacular in their defeat of the Heat (6-3).
 
TWU's Savannah Purdy (Victoria) led the Spartans in kills (11) and points (13) while Meaghan Mealey (Calgary) threw down a game-high of 13 digs. Avery Heppell (Langley, B.C.) was a force to be reckoned with in the middle, completing seven kills on a kill rate of .400.
 
The Heat were led by third-year outside hitter Jade Bussard, who put down a team-high of 11 kills through the three sets of play. Natalie Funk played a strong match up the middle as well, making five kills on an efficiency of .444.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Heat came out firing in the first set. With outside hitters Sydney Grills and Amaya Perry accelerating a 10-7 lead favouring the Heat, TWU bounced back with a series of momentum-mounting plays to claim a 15-10 lead soon after UBCO's strong start. The Heat came back with a five-point run of their own to tie the first set, which would soon be stunted by a service error to keep the Spartans in control. The set found itself at a 22-22 draw in its twilight, but it was Avery Heppell (Langley, B.C.) who pounded a ball set by Olivia Heinen (Langley, B.C.) home (25-23).
 
The second set was played quite similarly to the first. Both teams pressed into the weaknesses of the opposition, attempting to find any sort of hole in the opposing defence. TWU rolled onwards with a four-point run to close the set at 25-20.
 
The third set saw the Spartans take command once again, ending the final set at a 25-20 victory in favour of the Spartans.
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans are 21-6 against UBCO all-time. Friday's victory extends TWU's win-streak against the Heat to five consecutive matches won.
• It was a big day for TWU setters Olivia Heinen and Dora Komlodi (Calgary). The Spartans led the match in assists at 36-26.

QUOTABLE
TWU Head Coach Ryan Hofer
"I expect UBCO to play great volleyball. They're a scrappy team, they work really hard, they have good attackers. We expected a great volleyball game, and it ended up being that. It was tight for most of the night other than certain parts of the third set.

"Meaghan [Mealey] has worked incredibly hard on both ends of the court for us. It is great seeing her hard work pay off in-game. She's did a really nice job on her serving run in the third set.

"I expect tomorrow night to be even better for both teams."

UP NEXT
TWU hosts UBCO again at the Langley Events Centre on Saturday (2 p.m.).
 
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 29 Canada West team championships.
 
-TW-