LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 1 Trinity Western Spartans women's volleyball team defeated the Calgary Dinos 3-0 in game two of Canada West round robin play-off series Saturday night from the Langley Events Centre.
TWU's 25-23, 25-15, 25-18 victory improves the Spartans to 2-0 in the post season, while the loss drops the Dinos to 0-2.
The Spartans were led by Avery Heppell with 13 kills, and six blocks.
Kenzie Vaandering led the Dinos with eight kills and six digs, while
Regan Ingram added seven kills. TWU's Olivia Heinen had 30 set assists, while Calgary's
Stella Rains finished with 24 assists.
In the most competitive set of the match, the Spartans and the Dinos exchanged scoring runs and as they each battled for control of the opening set. Calgary scored four straight points to take an early 10-5 lead and force TWU into an early timeout. Out of the break TWU scored four straight points to trail 10-9 as the Dinos took a timeout to slow TWU. The Spartans continued to score and held the one point lead 16-15 at the technical timeout. But then the Dinos countered with a 6-2 run to lead 21-18. Again, the Spartans responded and tied the set at 22-22 and then scored the final two points to take the opening set 25-23.
Trinity Western came out flying to start the second set and quickly took a 6-0 lead. The Spartans expanded the lead to 10 points, 16-6, at the technical break. From there the teams played side-out ball as the Spartans took the second set 25-15. TWU hit at an impressive .542 in the frame.
The Spartans continued to control the play through the third set. TWU led 8-4 to start, and expanded their lead to eight points, 16-8, at the technical break. The Dinos cut the Spartans lead to five points at 22-17. But, it was as close as Calgary would get as Trinity Western took the final three points to win the match, 25-18.
The Spartans will take on Brandon Bobcats in the final game of the round-robin play-off series. Game time at the Langley Events Centre is set for 6 p.m. PT. The Dinos will head to Abbotsford, B.C. to take on the Fraser Valley Cascades. Match time at the UFV Athletic Centre is set for 4 p.m. PT. All matches can be seen live on Canadawest.tv.
