LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans had a solid performance as they handed the visiting Brandon Bobcats a 3-0 defeat in the Spartans Canada West home opener Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The 25-16, 25-16, 25-22 win keeps the Spartans unbeaten at 3-0, while the loss drops the Bobcats to 0-1 in their Canada West season opener.
Second-year outside
Erika Bang (Calgary, Alta.) with nine kills, and five digs, third-year outside
Faye Murray (Rosenort, Man.) with nine kills, six digs, and two aces, third-year outside
Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) with eight kills, and 10 digs, and fourth-year
Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with eight kills, one block, and two aces led the Spartans. While Avery Burgar with seven kills led the Bobcats.
Third-year setter
Sydney Gill (St. Catharines, Ont.) ran the Spartan attack and finished the night with 25 set assists to go with five service aces, while Carly Thomson finished the night with nine assists for the Bobcats.
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Bobcats will finish the two match weekend series tomorrow afternoon at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. Match time is set for 4 p.m. (PT) and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
QUOTABLE
Trinity Western Head Coach Brynden
"I really liked the energy that we came out with tonight, and that showed in the first two sets, and actually all three, where we took care of the ball on servers and sided out really high. Sidney Gill did a great job running the offence, and our attackers did a great job of taking care of balls. I think the only thing we would look at is cleaning some things up in that third set from the service line and some communication. But aside from that, a fairly a solid night to have for an open night."
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans took control early and jumped out to an 8-5 lead, which they expanded to 16-9 lead midway through the set. TWU would continue to roll through the set as they took the opening set 25-16. TWU hit at .280 (11-4-25) in the opening set, while Brandon hit at .174 (6-2-23).
TWU continued their strong play in the second set as they took a 16-10 lead. The Spartans carried on their strong play as they took the second set by the same 25-16 margin, to lead 2-0. TWU hit at .238 (9-4-21), while Brandon hit at .107 (9-6-28).
Brandon had a better start to the third set as they took an early 7-5 lead. TWU gradually got their momentum back and tied the set at 10-10. The Bobcats continued to match the Spartans and were even with TWU 21-21 as the set moved into its later stages. Back-to-back points, including an ace by Murray gave TWU a 23-21 lead and put Brandon into a timeout. TWU went up 24-21, but Brandon held off match point before the Spartans Plouffee finished the match giving the Spartans the final set 25-22 and the match. 3-0. TWU hit at .295 (18-5-44) in the third set, while Brandon hit at .250 (9-2-28).
NOTABLE
- The Spartans finished the night hitting at .278 (38-13-90) while the Bobcats hit at .177 (24-10-79).
- TWU had a 10-1 edge in service aces, and 37-26 in digs.
- The Spartans also had the lead in blocks at 3-2.
- Trinity Western was ranked No. 4 in the Canada West preseason coaching poll, while Brandon was ranked No. 14.
- The Spartans are 34-6 lifetime against the Bobcats.
- TWU's last loss to Brandon was 3-0 on February 1, 2014.
- The victory was TWU head coach Ryan Hofer's 300 Canada West conference win (300-93) of his 20 year career coaching the Spartans.
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 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
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