LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 4 Trinity Western Spartans jumped out in front early, but were unable to hold off No. 1 Alberta, falling in four sets to the Canada West champion Saturday night in the U SPORTS championship semi-final match at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The 18-25, 25-15, 25-21, 25-19 win puts the Pandas into the gold medal match, while the Spartans will now be playing for U SPORTS bronze.
 
Fifth-year outside/middle Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with 17 kills, eight digs, and three aces, and fourth-year outside Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) with 11 kills, 10 digs, and three aces led the Spartans. While Abby Guezen with 14 kills, eight digs, four blocks, and two aces, and Laila Johnston with 11 kills and four digs led the Pandas.
 
TWU second-year setter Tayana Dmitruk (Surrey, B.C.) ran the Spartan attack and finished with 34 set assists to go with nine digs and two aces. Her counterpart with the Pandas, Justine Kolody, finished with 44 set assists and 12 digs.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans will now match up with the loser of the Brock Badgers and the Sherbrooke Vert et Or in the U SPORTS bronze medal match Sunday at 2 p.m. (PT) at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The match can be seen live on CBC Gem.

AS IT HAPPENED
The opening Spartans and Pandas were even for the first 18 points, 9-9, of the opening set. Te
Then TWU went on a 9-4 run and after a Sienna Driedger kill had built a 18-3 lead. The Spartans expanded their lead as the set progressed with TWU prevailing 25-18 to take a 1-0 lead to open the match. TWU opened the match hitting .385 (11-1-26), while Alberta struggled in their attack at .080 (8-6-25).
 
The attacking the second set was the opposite of the opening set with Alberta evening up the match with a 25-15 win. The Pandas took an early 8-4 lead after an Allie Moore kill and a block by the Pandas Guezen. The Spartans responded with a run, with a service ace by London Krahn cutting the Pandas' lead to one point, 9-8. Alberta took control of the set with a 5-1 run to lead 14-9. The Pandas continued to find openings to score points as the set progressed, with Alberta earning the 10-point win. TWU saw their attack percentage drop to .031 (10-9-32), while Alberta improved to .409 (8-0-21).
 
The Pandas carried the momentum into the third set and jumped out to a quick seven-point lead, 12-5, after a Ronnie Dickson kill. TWU gradually scaped their way back into the set and after a Plouffe ace, made it a three-point deficit, trailing 17-14. After trading points, Alberta was able to get their lead back to five points after a kill and a service ace by Payton Henderson to lead 21-16. The Spartans were resilient and, after trailing 23-17, took four straight points, highlighted by back-to-back Boldon aces to trail 23-21. After an Alberta timeout, the Pandas were able to get two straight blocks to take the third set 25-21 and a 2-1 set lead. TWU hit at .100 (10-6-40), while Alberta hit at .342 (15-2-38).  
 
The Spartans had a strong start to the fourth set and, after a Boldon block, had built a seven-point, 11-4, lead. But the Pandas came storming back on the serving of Allie Moore to take the next a 13-12 lead with a 9-1 run. Tayana Dmitruk's service ace got the Spartans back into the lead, 14-13. With the teams tied at 16-16, Alberta got separation with a block and a kill by Laila Johnston to lead 18-16 and put TWU into a timeout. The break did not slow down the Pandas as Alberta finished off the set and the match with a 7-3 run to take the set 25-19. TWU hit at .286 (10-4-21) in the final set, while Alberta hit at .444 (16-4-27).
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans finished the night hitting an .176 (41-20-119) while the Pandas finished at .321 (49-13-112).
• Alberta had the edge in blocks 7-3.
• While TWU had the edge in digs 49-44 and aces 10-6.
• The Spartans and Pandas met in the Canada West final, with Alberta winning 3-1, giving the Pandas the Canada West Championship 28-26, 25-15, 20-25, 26-24.
• TWU is now 44-55 lifetime against Alberta.
• The Spartans and Pandas split the two conference matches in Alberta, with Alberta winning 3-0 and TWU winning 3-2 in Edmonton.
• The Spartans advanced to the U SPORTS semi-final with a 3-0 win over the UBC Thunderbirds.
• The Pandas advanced with a 3-1 win over the Montreal Carabins.

 
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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