LANGLEY, BC – It was the official home opener in the brand new Langley Events Centre for the No. 8 Trinity Western University women's volleyball team Friday night. The Spartans were looking for a win to cap the festivities, but the visiting No. 1 University of British Columbia Thunderbirds spoiled the party when they swept the Spartans 3-0 (25-17, 25-21, 25-15).
The win moves the Thunderbirds to 3-0, while the loss drops the Spartans to 2-1.
Kyla Richey led the Thunderbirds with 10 kills and
Shanice Marcelle added six kills and a team high 10 digs. UBC's setter
Katie Tyzuk finished with 30 set assists, while TWU's setter Lauren O'Reilly finished with 21 set assists. The Spartans were led by outside Kim Klassen who had a game-high 11 kills.
"It was a good win tonight," said UBC head coach
Doug Reimer. "We did a good job playing with quite a bit of composure. Even though we weren't great throughout the match, overall we were efficient and didn't give anything easy to Trinity Western."
The Spartans had a shaky start to open the first set and found themselves trailing 8-3 at the first break. The home side gathered themselves after the break, but still trailed the UBC 16-8 at the second break, from there on the teams played side-out ball as UBC took the opening set 25-17.
UBC trailed early in the second set however the visitors gained traction and after Richey's attack hit the floor UBC had a two point lead, 16-14, at the second break. The Thunderbirds carried the momentum through the break and outscored the Spartans 9-7 to take the second set 25-21 and two sets to none lead. Outside
Liz Cordonier led the Thunderbirds with four kills in the set, after not starting the match due to an mild injury.
The defending national champs wasted little time asserting themselves in the third and deciding sent and had leads of 8-1 and 16-6 en route to an easy 25-15 close out.
The two teams match up again tomorrow night. Game time at the Langley Events Centre is set for 5 p.m.
Match Notes: UBC with 35 kills out hit the Spartans with 31 kills at 27.9 percent to 8.4 percent…the Thunderbirds finished with seven service aces to the Spartans four…UBC also outblocked TWU nine to five… 1036 fans from TWU, Langley and the local community were on hand for the match.
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