VANCOUVER – In a battle of two of the top teams in the nation the No. 7 UBC Thunderbirds prevailed 3-2 over the No.1 Trinity Western Spartans Sunday afternoon at War Memorial gym in Vancouver, B.C. The 25-23, 22-25, 21-25, 25-18, 15-12 loss keeps the Spartans from claiming back-to-back titles and gives UBC their 13^th U SPORTS women's volleyball championship.
 
Elise Petit, who was named the tournament MVP, led all hitters with 20 kills to go along with 13 digs. UBC's Kacey Jost had a game-high 25 digs while chipping in six assists. Cara Kovacs also contributed 13 kills and 10 blocks for the T-Birds. TWU's Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.), Ansah Odoom (Surrey, B.C.) and Savannah Purdy (Victoria, B.C.) each had a team-high 14 kills. Setter Dora Komlodi (Calgary) has 52 assists for Trinity Western while also leading the team with 21 digs.  
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The opening set was a game of runs. TWU came out strong and used a 5-0 run to take an early 5-1 lead after a Purdy service ace. But the Thunderbirds responded with an impressive 12-3 run and led 13-8 after Petit tipped the ball to the back corner of the Spartans side. The Spartans then countered with a 5-0 run of their on the on the back of Mikayla Benterud (Clay) (Sherwood Park, Alta.) serving to tie the set at 13-13. After playing side-out ball to 17-18 the Spartans scored three straight points to take a 20-18 lead. Again the T-birds responded and took advantage of TWU errors to take a 23-20 lead. The Spartans closed with a 3-1 run before UBC's Kovacs hit off hands to give the Thunderbirds the opening set 25-23.TWU hit at .149 (13-6-47), while UBC hit at .244 (14-4-41).
 
The second set was TWU's in the early going as the Spartans took an early 7-2 lead after an Odoom kill and forced UBC into a timeout. TWU came out of the break and scored the next four points to lead 11-2 after another ace from Purdy. And again forced the Thunderbirds into a timeout. UBC slowly chipped away at the lead and after a TWU attack error gave UBC an 8-3 run to cut the lead to four points, trailing 17-13. The Spartans maintained the margin by playing side-out ball and got to set point with a 24-20 lead after a Plouffe middle attack. UBC took the next two points before Plouffe closed out the set 25-22 to even the match at 1-1. TWU hit at .190 (13-5-42), while UBC hit at .195 (15-7-41).
 
The third set was tight from the start. Neither team was able to get more than a two point spread till TWU's Meaghan Mealey (Calgary) hit down the line to put the Spartans up 14-12. But UBC tied the set up at 15-15 after Petit hit of hands. The Spartans' Purdy put TWU back up by two points, 17-15, after her tip down the line after a long rally. The Spartans maintained the lead to 19-18 when TWU went on a 4-0 run to take a 23-18 lead after Plouffe found the middle of the court. The teams sided out for the next four points when Mealey put the ball off of the block to give TWU the third set 25-20 and a 2-1 set lead. TWU hit at .342 (15-2-38), while UBC hit at .200 (14-6-40).
 
The Spartans came out strong in the fourth set and took a 9-3 lead after Mealey hit off hands. TWU took the next point, but then UBC would go on an 8-0 run to take a 12-10 lead after a UBC ace by Robertsen. The run brought the capacity crowd back into the match. TWU tied the set up at 15-15 after a Plouffe service ace. After two side out points, UBC took over the set with a 6-0 run to give the Thunderbirds a 22-16 lead after a block by UBC's Robertsen and Vermette. UBC closed out the set 25-18 to even out the match 2-2. TWU hit at .000 (9-9-43), while UBC hit at .219 (12-5-32).
 
UBC was stronger to start the final set as they took an 8-6 lead into the change over after a tip by Robertsen to the back corner. Out of the break TWU got on a roll. Komlodi served the Spartans to a 12-9 lead after her second ace of the night. But that would be the last point of the match for the Spartans. After UBC closed the set to two point, the Thunderbirds Kayla Oxland had back-to-back aces to tie the fifth set at 12-12. Then kills by Petit, Vermette and another by Petit ended the match for the Spartans with UBC prevailing 15-12 to take the U SPORTS championship. TWU hit at .348 (10-2-23), while UBC hit at .409 (9-0-22).
 
QUOTABLE
Ryan Hofer – TWU Head Coach 
"I am super proud of all of these ladies out here competing tonight. I am very grateful for an incredible coaching staff. We said from the beginning that we are here to learn, we are here to grow, and we are here to help and build and connect with each other."
 
"We play a great sport that helps us build our character. It helps form who we are becoming as people, and I could not be more proud of these young ladies. It's been fun. UBC put on a great event. UBC played very well tonight, it was a fun, fun opportunity to showcase our game to the province and everyone watching."

NOTABLE
• Players of the match: TWU Dora Komlodi, UBC Jayde Robertsen.
• The Spartans are now 29-55 lifetime, 20-42 in CW conference play against the Thunderbirds, and 1-4 at the U SPORTS championships.
• The Spartans took both regular season matches 3-2 in the home and home over the T-birds.
• In their last play-off meeting TWU defeated UBC 3-0 in the 2021-22 CW semi-final match in Edmonton.
• Trinity Western was 8-2 in their last 10 CW conference and post season match-ups with UBC.
• The Spartans defeated No. 8 McGill 3-1 in the quarter-final, and No. 5 Dalhousie 3-0 in the semi-final, while the T-Birds defeated No. 2 Brook 3-1 in the quarter-final, and Manitoba 3-1 in the semi-final.
• The No. 7 Thunderbirds advanced to the national championship as the host school.
• TWU has won four straight Canada West championships and five of the last seven after defeating Mount Royal 3-0 in the CW final.
• UBC's last Canada West championship was in 2013-14. Their last national title for UBC was in 2018-19, when they beat then No. 1 TWU 3-2 in the opening round as the No. 8 seed.
• The Spartans are the defending U SPORTS champions, beating MRU 3-1 last year in Calgary.
• TWU finished the night hitting at .188 (62-26-192), while UBC finished at .237 (62-20-177).
• The T-Birds had the edge in blocks 16-9 and digs 84-81, while the Spartans had the edge in aces 8-7.
• Plouffe's 14 kills bettered her career best of 13, which she set in the semi-final vs Dalhousie.
• Today's championship was TWU's fourth national final, 2-2.
• Tournament All-Stars: Setter – Dora Komlodi (TWU), Libero – Kacey Jost (UBC), Left Side – Lucy Glen-Carter (DAL), Outside Hitter – Raya Surinx (MAN), Middle blocker – Jayde Robertsen (UBC), Middle blocker – Kaylee Plouffe (TWU), MVP – Elise Petit (UBC), Fair Play Award – Brett Boldon (UBC).
• TWU finished the season No. 1 in CW at 22-2, while Dalhousie finished No. 3 in the CW at 18-6. The Spartans finish 7-1 in the post season, while UBC finishes 3-2.
 
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 13 U SPORTS team championships and 32 Canada West team championships.
 
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