UBC Okanagan women’s volleyball aim to split weekend series, after five-set loss to the home Trinity Western Spartans. Rematch will go tomorrow at 5 p.m. at the Langley Event Centre.
Women’s Volleyball (Canada West conference match)
Friday, February 5th, 2016
Langley Events Centre, Langley, BC
SET SCORES 1 2 3 4 5 TEAM RECORDS UBC Okanagan........ (2) 25 23 23 25 10 17-2 Trinity Western..... (3) 21 25 25 20 15 18-1
LANGLEY, BC – UBC Okanagan women’s volleyball team travelled to Langley to battle Trinity Western for top spot in Canada West and the coaches ranking No. 1 in the nation; the showdown resulted in a five-set heartbreak for UBC Okanagan, losing (21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 20-25, 15-10) Friday night at the Langley Events Centre.
The Heat rallied from a set down to force a fifth set, the Spartans responded by opening a (10-4) lead before delivering a five-point spread win to improve their record to 18-1 in Canada West play and move into sole possession of first place in the conference.
The loss saw the Heat fall to 17-2 on the season. The setback also saw UBCO’s 12-match winning streak come to an end. The last time the Heat suffered a loss was on Oct. 31 against Winnipeg.
The Heat were led by outside hitter Megan Festival (Calgary, AB) with 14 kills, 15 digs and four aces. Katie Wuttunee (North Vancouver, BC) added 13 kills while Brianna Beamish (Surrey, BC) had 11 kills. Erin Drew (Kelowna, BC) had a match-high seven blocks, Kailin Jones (Kelowna) added 14 digs, and Emily Oxland (North Vancouver) had 32 assists.
The Spartans were led by the attacking duo of Sophie Carpentier (Ottawa) and Elly Wendel (Caronport, Sask.), who had 18 and 16 kills respectively. Katie Devaney (Port Coquitlam, BC) had a team-high six blocks while setter Nikki Cornwall (Coquitlam, BC) had 47 assists, 13 digs and four blocks. Libero Mariel Garcia (Winnipeg) had a match-high 17 digs.
As a team, TWU had a (10-9) edge in blocks and a (60-57) advantage in digs. The Heat had 11 aces to TWU’s eight while the Spartans had 19 service errors to UBCO’s 14.
The Heat raced out to a (5-1) lead in the first set and never trailed. The Spartans tallied three consecutive points to make it (5-4), but the visitors controlled the set the rest of the way. After TWU closed the gap to three points, at (24-21), a Heat block finished the set in favour of the visitors. The win marked the first time UBCO has ever taken a set from the Spartans at the LEC in Canada West league play.
In the second set, the Spartans opened a (6-2) lead and looked in control early. However UBCO rallied and took a (16-15) edge at the technical timeout. The Spartans went back up (22-17), only to see the Heat respond and even the set (22-22). However, TWU, who hit (.207) in the set, tallied three of the last four points take the set.
The third set looked to be going UBCO’s way early as the visitors took a (15-11) lead before going up (20-16). But with the Heat up (23-20), the Spartans roared back, scoring five straight points to win the set (25-23). Despite 15 service errors through three sets, the Spartans held a (2-1) lead going to the fourth set.
It was all Heat early in the fourth, as UBCO went up (5-0) before extending its lead to (11-4) after a TWU service error. The Spartans closed the gap to three points on four different occasions, but that was as close as they could get. With the Heat up (23-20), a Festival kill and a Spartans error gave UBCO the set and sent the match to a fifth set.
In the fifth set, the Spartans took a (3-1) lead before extending their advantage to (7-3) after a block from Cornwall and Kristin Anton (Prince George, BC) and an unreturnable kill from Carpentier. TWU pushed its lead to (10-4) and, from there, rolled to the win. A Carpentier kill finished the set and the match.
The teams will play the rematch Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Langley Events Centre.
Game Notes: Prior to Friday, the Heat was 0-4 against TWU in league play at the LEC…In the week before TWU took over sole possession of the No. 1 spot in the CIS Top 10 this week, the Spartans and Heat were tied for top spot in the country…The Heat was coming off an historic effort last weekend in which it earned a sweep of UBC for the first time in program history…Two regular starters for the Heat: Katy Klomps and Michelle Jakszuk were absent for the second straight match due to injury and illness…
~ With notes from Mark Janzen // TWU sports information