KELOWNA, British Columbia– The Trinity Western Spartans made it two straight five set victories over the UBC Okanagan Heat with a 3-2 win Saturday night at the UBC Okanagan Gym in Kelowna, B.C.  The 23-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-18, 15-9 win improves the Spartans to 11-5, while the loss drops the Heat to 5-11. The Spartans currently sit in fifth place in Canada West, while the Heat are in ninth place.
 
Fourth-year outside Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) with 20 kills, seven digs, and four aces, and fifth-year middle Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with 17 kills, 13 digs, and four aces, and second-year outside Sienna Driedger (Grunthal, Man.) with 11 kills, seven digs, and one block led the Spartans.
 
Natalie Funk with 16 kills, 12 digs, and one ace, Ali rathief with 11 kills, six blocks, and six digs, and Korey Jenkins with 10 kills and five digs led the Heat.
 
TWU second-year setter Tayana Dmitruk (Surrey, B.C.) ran the Spartan attack, finishing with 47. UBC Okanagan's Kylan Finseth finished with 39 set assists.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now host the Regina Cougars on January 30-31 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. Match times are set for 6 p.m. (PT) on both nights and can be seen live on Canada West  TV. TWU is the host of the U SPORTS championship, which begins March 13 at the Langley Events Centre.
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The opening set between Spartans and the Heat was tightly contested. Neither team was able to get a significant advantage with the teams remaining tied at 23-23. UBC Okanagan was able to get the final two set points on back-to-back kills from Funk to give the home team the opening set 25-23.
 
Trinity Western overcoming an early deficit to even up the match. UBCO initially built a 7-2 lead, aided by effective plays from Madison Gardner and a series of TWU errors. However, the Spartans responded with a strong service game, highlighted by Kaylee Plouffe's three consecutive aces, which tied the score at 12-12. The set remained closely contested until TWU secured a 25-21 victory with a final service error by BCO's Natalie Funk, to even the match at 1-1.
 
In the third set, UBC Okanagan took an early advantage with a series of key kills by Ali Rathlef and Marija Josipovic, establishing a 10-7 lead. Despite TWU's efforts, including consecutive aces by Dmitruk that brought them within one point at 24-23, UBCO secured the set with a kill from Josipovic, to take the set 25-23 and a 2-1 set lead in the match.
 
Trinity Western secured the fourth set with a solid 25-18 victory against UBC Okanagan. Sienna Driedger and Plouffe each contributed multiple kills in the set. The Spartans built momentum with a service ace from Plouffe and consistent setting by Dmitruk to take a 22-15 lead. The set concluded with a block by Isabella Stothart that capitalized on an attack error from Rathlef, sealing the set for Trinity Western 25-18 and sending the match to a fifth set.
 
The decisive fifth set was even through the changeover with the teams tied at 8-8 following a series of attack errors by TWU. However, the Spartans responded and took control with kills from Plouffe and Driedger, to take a 12-8 lead. The Spartans continued to capitalize on attack errors by the Heat, and closed out the set and the match with a 15-9 win on a block by Boldon and London Krahn.
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans finished the night hitting at .265 (65-21-166), while the Heat finished at .183 (52-24-153).
• TWU had the edge in service aces 15-6 and digs 72-61.
• UBC Okanagan had a 14-13 edge in total blocks.
• The Spartans are currently 34-6 lifetime against the Heat.
• The Spartans defeated the Heat 3-2 (23-25, 25-21, 25-17, 21-25, 15-12) on Friday night at the UBC Okanagan Gym in Kelowna, B.C.
• Last year, the Spartans split with the Heat, winning 3-1 and losing 3-0 in Langley, B.C.
• The last loss broke a 16-game Spartan winning streak against the Heat.

 
About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as in the NAIA in track and field and cross country and as an independent team in men's rugby and women's and men's disc golf. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 33 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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