LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 4 Trinity Western Spartans defeated the No. 8 UBC Thunderbirds 3-1 Saturday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. the 25-19, 25-19, 25-27, 25-18 win improves the TWU to 7-1, while the loss drops UBC to 5-3.
 
The T-Birds were led by fourth year middle Maggie Li (Beijing) with nine kills, three blocks, and two aces and fifth year leftside Danielle Brisebois (Bolton, Ont.) and third year left side Laura MacTaggart (Lacombe, Alta.) with seven kills each.


 
The Spartans had strong matches from fifth year outside Elizabeth Wendel (Caronport, Sask.) with 11 kills, six blocks, and two aces and fourth year middle Katelyn Devaney (Port Coquitlam, B.C.) with eight kills, six blocks and two aces.
 
TWU fourth year setter Nikki Cornwall (Coquitlam, B.C.) led the Spartans attack with 39 set assists, while fourth year setter Alessandra Gentile (Port Moody, B.C.) led the Thunderbirds with 21 set assists.

"It was obviously not the result we were looking for and I think that was due in part to our ability to maintain the consistently high level of play needed against a strong and experienced team like TWU," said UBC Head Coach Doug Reimer. "In particular we didn't get the offensive efficiency that we are used to and therefore didn't put enough pressure on TWU."     
 
Trinity Western was in control throughout the opening set taking 8-3 and 16-10 leads. TWU finished out the set 25-19 to take the opening 1-0 lead. The Spartans hit at 37.5 percent (9-3-16) to UBC's negative 13.6 percent (7-10-22).
 
The second set had a completely different start as UBC jumped out to an opening 5-1 lead.  The Spartans gathered momentum and were able to tie the set at 8-8. The T-Birds once again took control and after a Victoria Behie kill led the Spartans 16-12 at the media break. TWU gradually got going and after a Sophie Carpentier kill had evened the set at 17-17. The Spartans continued to roll through the tie and took the second set 25-19. TWU hit at 23.1 percent (10-4-26), while UBC hit at 20 percent (9-4-25).
 

.@ubcwvb1 take the third set thanks to some big blocks like this one ??. 'Birds are down 2 sets to 1 in Langley vs @TWUSpartans. #GoBirdsGo pic.twitter.com/SadWgSWMTF

— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) November 26, 2016

 
It looked like TWU was going to take the match in straight sets as they jumped out to 8-4 and a 16-10 lead at the technical timeout. UBC's Emily Cicon served the T-Birds back into the set and closed the gap to two points, trailing 15-17. Katelyn Devaney regained gave the Spartans a 21-18 lead with a step attack. A TWU service error made it 21-19 for the Spartans. With the serve UBC's Laura Worsley stepped to the back line and served five straight points to give the T-Birds a 24-21 lead. A Sophie Carpentier kill held off set point and then a serving run by Devaney made it 25-24 for TWU. UBC's Victoria Behie held off the Spartans set point to tie the set at 25-25. The Thunderbirds Maggie Li then served the next two points for UBC, a kill by Laura McTaggart and an attack error by TWU's Elizabeth Wendel, to give the Thunderbirds third set 27-25.


 
The final set was tight through to the technical break with TWU leading 16-14.Wendel expanded the lead to three points, 21-18 with a cross court attack. That would end the T-Birds chances as TWU's Ashtyn McKenzie served the next four points to give the Spartans the fourth set 25-18, and the match 3-1.

"There were bright spots but again to earn the 'W' we need to find the ways to compete with more consistency," added Reimer. "I am confident it will come and for now it is important to regroup and move forward to next weekend."
 
The Thunderbirds will play one last series before the Canada West holiday break. They will travel to Edmonton to battle the MacEwan Griffins on Dec. 2nd (5:00pm PT) and Dec. 3rd (4:00pm PT).