WINNIPEG, Manitoba – The Trinity Western Spartans dropped their second match of the weekend with a 3-1 loss to the No. 7 Manitoba Bisons Saturday afternoon at the Investors Group Athletic Centre in Winnipeg, Man. The 27-25, 21-25, 25-17, 25-21) loss drops the Spartans to 5-7, while the win moves the Bisons to 8-4.  
 
Third-year outside hitter Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) with 16 kills, nine digs, four blocks, and three service aces, fourth-year middle Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with 15 kills, and three blocks, and third-year outside Faye Murray (Rosenort, Man.) with 14 kills, and three blocks led the Spartans.
 
Raya Surinx was dominant for the Bisons finishing with 21 kills, and three service aces for the Bisons.
 
Third-year setter Sydney Gill (St. Catharines, Ont.) led the Spartans' offence with 35 set assists. Manitoba was led by Katreena Bentley with 45 set assists.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now return home to host the Alberta Pandas in a weekend series on January 17-18. Game times at the Langley Events Centre are set for 5 p.m. (PT) and 4 p.m. (PT), and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
QUOTABLE
TWU head coach Ryan Hofer
"I thought we responded really well after yesterday. We did a much better job of putting a serving package together and just raising our level throughout the entire match. There's a lot that we can build on. There's a lot we still are looking to improve upon and so we're excited to get after it this next week."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Bisons opened the match taking the extra point first set winning 27-25 hitting at .243 (16-7-3) to the Spartans .229 (13-5-35). TWU evened up the match winning the second set and improving their attack to .367 (15-4-3), while Manitoba hit at .179 (11-6-28).
 
Manitoba had their best set of the match to take a 2-1 lead with a 25-17 win by hitting .429 (10-1-21), while TWU hit at .320 (13-5-25). It looked like the Spartans were going to force a fifth set leading 19-16 late in the fourth set, but the Bisons outscored TWU 9-2 down the stretch to close out the match with a 25-21 win. TWU hit at .128 (13-8-39) in the final set, while Manitoba hit at .343 (15-3-35).
 
NOTABLE 

• The Spartans finished the match hitting .248 (54-22-129), while the Bisons finished at .289 (52-17-121).
• Manitoba outblocked TWU 10-9 and had a 9-5 edge in service aces.
• The Spartans lost 3-0 (25-10, 25-18, 25-18) to the Bisons Friday night.
• TWU is currently 27-27 lifetime against Manitoba.  

 
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.
 
About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in U SPORTS. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
 
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