LANGLEY, British Columbia – The Trinity Western Spartans battled the No. 5 Alberta Pandas for two hours before falling 3-2 in the five-set back-and-forth battle Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The Spartans took the even sets, while the Pandas took the odd-numbered sets with Alberta winning 25-17, 22-25, 25-14, 13-25, 15-4. The loss drops the Spartans to 5-9, while the win improves the Pandas to 11-3.
 
Third-year outside Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) with 10 kills, nine digs, and two blocks, fourth-year middle Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with nine kills, five digs, and two aces, and second-year middle Isabella Stothart (Airdrie, Alta.) with eight kills, three blocks, and one ace led the Spartans. Abby Guezen with 13 kills, six digs, and six blocks, and Allie Moore with seven kills, 10 blocks, and three aces led the Pandas.
 
Third-year setter Sydney Gill (St. Catharines, Ont.) led the Spartan attack with 35 set assists, while her counterpart with the Pandas, Justine Kolody finished with 30 assists.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now head to Calgary next week to face the Calgary Dinos on Friday, January 24, and Saturday, January 25. Match times are set for 6 p.m. (MT) and 5:30 (MT) and can be seen live on Canada West TV.

QUOTABLE
Trinity Western Head Coach Ryan Hofer
"I'm proud of the way that we battled this weekend, specifically tonight. I know it's not the outcome that we wanted, but we are improving and we're getting better every weekend we are going to keep looking at the process and making sure that we're now prepping for our extra opponent going to Calgary and taking one match at a time starting with Monday's practice and get better and by the end of the season, we're going to be where we need to be."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
In opening set was close at the outset with the Spartans trailing by one point, 6-5 after a kill by Faye Murray. But the Pandas took control during the middle phase of the set, going on a 10-3 run to take a 16-8 lead. TWU and Alberta would side out for the remainder of the set as the Pandas took the opening set 25-17 to take a 1-0 lead. TWU hit at -.028 (11-12-36) in the set, while Alberta hit at .217 (5-0-23).

The Spartans came out strong to start the second set and quickly took control jumping out to a 11-3 lead after an Isabella Stothartkill. Alberta slowly climbed back in the set and after a Ronnie Dickson kill only trailed by three points, 21-18. The Pandas continued to close the deficit and Liala Johnston's block of Murray made it a one-point set with TWU up 23-22. TWU was able to withstand the challenge as Erika Bang closed out the set for the Spartans 25-22 with a kill to even the match at 1-1. TWU hit at .289 (21-8-45), while Alberta hit at .273 (10-1-33).

The Pandas reversed the flow of the match with a dominating third set. A Guezen kill put the Pandas up 10-3 early. Alberta continued their strong play to lead 16-6. From there the two teams played side-out ball with the Pandas taking the third set 25-14 and a 2-1 set lead. TWU hit .120 (8-5-25), while Alberta hit .393 (14-3-28).

In the fourth set, it was the Spartans' turn to take over. The Spartans led 10-5 after a Kaylee Plouffe kill.  They expanded the lead to 10 points, 20-10 with ath Isabelle Musholt-Ko kill late in the set. The Spartans continued to roll through the set as they evened up the match 2-2 with a 25-13 win. TWU hit at .265 (13-4-34), while Alberta hit at .028 (6-5-36).

The momentum changed again in the final set with the Pandas jumping out to a commanding 6-0 lead after Allie Moore and Justine Kolody blocked Maryan Boldon. TWU trailed 8-2 at the changeover, but the margin was too great as the Pandas took the match 3-2 with a 15-4 win. TWU hit at -.200 (3-7-20), while Alberta hit at .300 (4-1-10).

NOTABLE 

• The Spartans finished the night hitting at .111 (56-38-162), while the Pandas finished at .223 (39-10-130).
• Alberta out-blocked Trinity Western 21-4.
• Both teams had seven service aces.
• TWU lost 3-0 to Alberta Friday night.
• The Spartans are currently 43-51 lifetime against the Pandas.
• TWU is 1-5 over the last six Canada West conference matches with the Pandas.

 
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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