LANGLEY, British Columbia– With a strong overall team performance, the Trinity Western Spartans made it a weekend sweep of the Mount Royal Cougars with a 3-0 win Saturday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The win improves TWU to 15-5 and guarantees the Spartans a home playoff berth in the Canada West playoffs, while the loss ends the Cougars' season at 4-16.
Fourth-year outside
Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) with 12 kills, four aces, and five digs, and fifth-year middle
Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with seven kills, five blocks led the Spartans. Sydney Scatcherd, with eight kills and one block, and Grace Coulter, with six kills and seven digs, led the Cougars.
TWU fourth-year setter
Sydney Gill (St. Catharines, Ont.) ran the Spartan attack, finishing with 19 set assists. Mount Royal's Marie Leggett finished with 20 set assists for the Cougars.
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now have a bye week before they host a Canada West quarterfinal on February 26-28 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.
Trinity Western and the Langley Events Centre are the hosts of the U SPORTS championship, which begins March 13 at the LEC.
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans and Cougars were evenly matched early in the opening set. Then, with TWU up 9-8, the Spartans broke the set open with a 9-2 run to take a commanding 18-10 lead. From there, the Spartans cruised to a 25-14 opening-set win. TWU finished the set hitting at .476 (12-2-21), while MRU hit at .080 (8-6-25).
TWU carried their strong play into the second set and quickly jumped out to a 9-3 lead after a Boldon service ace. The Spartans built their lead to 22-12 after another Boldon ace. MRU had a mini run to cut the lead to eight points, 23-15, before the Spartans closed out the set 25-15 with a Plouffe, London Krahan block. The Spartans struggled on the attack, hitting .000 (6-6-19), while the Cougars hit at .043 (7-6-23).
The Spartans looked to be running away in the final set, taking an early 15-8 lead. But the Cougars came storming back and made it a one-point, 17-16, match with an 8-2 run. The teams exchanged points to 21-20. That was as close as the Cougars would get as Boldon ended the match with TWU winning 25-21 and a 3-0 match victory. TWU hit at .444 (13-1-27) in the final set, while MRU hit at .320 (11-3-25).
NOTABLE
- The Spartans finished the night hitting at .328 (31-9-67) while the Cougars finished at .151 (25-15-94).
- The Spartans had the edge in service aces, 12-2.
- TWU had the edge in blocks 9-1 and digs 27-23.
- The Spartans are currently 34-3 lifetime against the Mount Royal Cougars.
- The Spartans have won their last seven conference matches against the Cougars.
- TWU defeated MRU 3-0, 25-18, 25-20, 25-12.
- Women's Volleyball hosts the U SPORTS championships beginning March 13 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C.
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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