by Scott Stewart, TWU Sports Information
Photo courtesy TWU Athletics: Team defensive standout Andrea Ball had a match-high 14 digs during Trinity Western's three-set win over Alberta
LANGLEY, B.C. - Sparked by a near record-breaking 67 digs the No. 4 Trinity Western University women's volleyball team defeated No. 7 Alberta 3-0 in an impressive defensive display Friday night at the Langley Events Centre.
The 33-31, 25-17, 25-23 win gives the Spartans the weekend 2-0 over the visiting Pandas and advances TWU to the Canada West Final Four.
"We are excited that we got this done in two straight as it is nice to have the weekend off to give our bodies time to recover and get ready for next week," commented TWU head coach Ryan Hofer. "It is going to be tough next week and we are going to have to get ready for another really good team."
The Spartans had four players' record double digits in digs to give TWU the weekend sweep. Leading the way for the Spartans were outside Kim Klassen of Abbotsford, B.C. with 14 kills and 10 digs and outside Kara Jansen Van Doorn of Langley, B.C. with 12 kills, seven digs, outside Carmen Dyck of Creston, B.C. with nine kills and 10 digs, setter Lauren O'Reilly of Abbotsford, B.C. with 38 set assists, 12 digs and four blocks and libero Andrea Ball of Abbotsford, B.C. with 14 digs, while leftside Tiffany Proudfoot of Calgary with 11 kills, middle Camille Wallace of Burnaby, B.C. with nine kills and libero Erin Walsh of Edmonton with 14 digs led the Pandas.
The match started with the Pandas taking a quick 8-3 lead and looking like they were going to run over the Spartans. Then with Alberta leading 9-4, TWU went on a 12-5 run to take a 16-14 lead at the second break. The Spartans expanded their lead to 24-20 and looked to have the set well in hand. But the Pandas stepped up their play and after a pounding attack by Proudfoot had gone on a 5-0 run to have set point at 25-24. From that point neither team was willing to blink as they played side out ball to 31-31. Both teams deserved to take the first set, but it was the Spartans who got the two straight to take the set after TWU's Jansen Van Doorn split the block and Proudfoot found the net to give TWU the first set 33-31. The Spartans finished the set hitting 16.1 per cent, while the Pandas hit at 9.8 per cent. The two teams combined for an amazing 51 digs with TWU having 31. The set saw 15 tie scores and eight lead changes.
"We had to really fight for it to get the first set. We had the lead and we had to battle from there and," Hofer commented on the intense 64 point first set.
The Spartans carried the intense play from the first set into the second set. TWU quickly took control of the set and after a kill by Klassen the Spartans held an 8-4 lead at the first break. TWU expanded the lead to five points at the second break after a Dyck kill gave the Spartans a 16-11 lead. The Spartans maintained their lead through the set and unlike the first set the Pandas were not able to make the comeback as TWU took the set 25-17 on a Klassen attack down the line. The Spartans finished the set at 30 percent attack efficiency, while the Pandas finished at 11.1 percent. Unlike the first set marathon the second set had only two tie scores and zero lead changes.
TWU looked to have control to start the third set by starting with a 6-3 lead. But Alberta regrouped and after a kill by Proudfoot and an attack error by TWU the Pandas had a four point 16-12 lead at the second break. The Spartans seemed to regroup through the break and looked stronger as they outscored the Pandas to 4-1 to pull within one point, 17-16 and force an Alberta timeout. The two sides matched each other point for point until they were tied at 23-23. The Spartans were able to close out the set, match and series with back-to-back kills by Jansen Van Doorn and Dyck to give TWU the 25-23 win.
The Spartans are now off to the Canada West final four next Friday, while the Pandas have a week off before hosting the CIS championship in Edmonton.
Match Notes
The Spartans set a record for attacks in a three set match with
132, bettering the previous mark of 131 set on Jan. 14, 2005
against the SFU Clan... TWU was within three digs of setting the
program record for digs in a three set match. The record of 70 digs
was set on Jan. 3, 2003 against Saskatchewan.