Scheduled Game: @British Columbia*

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GAME RESULTS 1 2 3 T Trinity Western 18 13 22 0 British Columbia 25 25 25 3 « FINAL

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Game Recap

WOMEN’S VOLLEYBALL (CANADA WEST)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2012
BRITISH COLUMBIA (3) TRINITY WESTERN (0)
(25-18, 25-13, 25-22)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NO. 1 SPARTANS FALL TO NO. 2 THUNDERBIRDS

VANCOUVER – Starting the season ranked No.1 for the first time in program history, the Trinity Western women’s volleyball team stumbled out of the gates as they lost 3-0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-22) to the No. 2 and five-time defending national champion UBC Thunderbirds Friday at the War Memorial Gym.

The Spartans were coming off a win over UBC in their final preseason match, dropping the T-Birds from first to second in the CIS rankings, but on Friday, it was a vastly different contest as everything seemed to go UBC’s way.
 
The T-Birds got off to a hot start going up 5-0 in the first set, and that set the tone for the night. The home side looked the part of defending national champs, limiting their errors and throwing many different looks at the Spartan defence.

Trinity Western was led by Nicole Bazin (Winnipeg), who had six kills and five blocks while Amy Ott (East Selkirk, Man.) had five kills, 11 digs and three blocks. Kelci French (Okotoks, Alta.) had 20 assists to go along with three kills and seven digs. Libero Kristen Moncks, playing in her first game at the CIS level after transferring from Medicine Hat College, had nine digs.

For UBC, it was Barclay leading the way with 13 kills and eight digs, while Rosie Schlagintweit had seven kills and four blocks and Abbey Keeping had six kills, two blocks and an ace. Setter Brina Derksen-Bergen added 28 assists and seven digs.

“It’s good to play a team like UBC first thing in the season because we now realize the level we’re going to have to play at to be successful,” said Spartans coach Ryan Hofer. “We didn’t play at that level consistently tonight. We competed hard at some points in the match but that’s not enough. I thought we started to figure it a bit in the third set but by that point, it was too late. We have to get better.

“This game is about controlling one of the first contacts of the rally, whether that’s the serve or serve receive. UBC did a better job of that than us. We didn’t serve as well as we needed to and we didn’t pass as well as we needed to. Those are two components of the game they did better than we did and they got the result they were looking for because of it.”
 
Lisa Barclay began the night with an ace and her serving helped the T-Birds get off to a quick start in the opening set. She also added four kills in the first set, including a flat-footed slam from the back row on game point.
 
Set two was more closely contested to start as the teams were tied early, 7-7.  An error gave the 'Birds a one point lead and that sparked them to an 8-0 run to seize control of the set. They were in control the rest of the way and cruised to a comfortable win.
 
The third set was the only one in which UBC trailed for significant periods, but a big turning point came midway through on a big block from Barclay and middle Jessica von Schilling to tie the set at 12. That sent the crowd into a frenzy and seemed to reenergize the 'Birds.
 
A string of two straight kills and a block from Barclay put UBC up 20-18. Keeping had an important kill, a big block and an ace down the stretch to help set up match point, which Schlagintweit converted with her third kill of the night.

The T-Birds head out to Langley to wrap up their series with the Spartans Saturday on the road. Game time is 5 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.

Game Notes: TWU hit .029 as a team while UBC hit .171…TWU had 9.0 blocks while UBC had 8.5…UBC had 8 aces while TWU had 2.

-UBC-
-TW-

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