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T-Birds outlast Spartans in wvb marathon
by Scott Stewart, TWU Sports Info
LANGLEY, B.C. - It took over two-and-a-half hours for the No. 1 UBC Thunderbirds to finally prevail 3-2 over the No. 8 Trinity Western University Spartans Saturday night at the Langley Events Centre. The loss drops the Spartans to 2-2, while the win keeps the Thunderbirds perfect at 4-0.
Kara Jansen Van Doorn (Langley) did everything that she could to help TWU secure a win. The fourth year outside hitter set a TWU record for kills in a match when she found the floor 25 times on 32 percent efficiency. The 25 kills betters the previous record of 23, which was set by Lies Verhoeff against Lewis-Clark State on Sept. 13, 02. The previous record in CIS play was 21, which was set by Liz Spear against the University of Manitoba on Jan. 12, 07.
The Thunderbirds had three players hit double digits in kills: Liz Cordonier (Vancouver) had 16, Jen Hinze (Vancouver) had 12 and Kyla Richey (Roberts Creek, B.C.) finished with 11.
TWU's libero Andrea Ball (Abbotsford, B.C.) led all players with 18 digs. Amy Leschied (East Selkirk, B.C.) also had a strong match for the Spartans. The second year outside hitter finished with nine kills, seven blocks and a service ace, while hitting 35.3 percent.
The match could have gone either way. Other than the first set, 25-22, each set finished with the minimum required two point advantage, with the three middle sets going to extra points, 25-27, 26-24 and 26-28.
In the fifth set, which UBC took 15-13, it looked like the Thunderbirds were going to run away with the final game as they jumped out to a 5-1 lead and eventually led 8-5 at the changeover. A three-point margin early in a normal set can be easily overcome, but in the shortened fifth set, it was a huge lead. UBC even extended the lead to four points at 12-8. But the Spartans did not roll over. Led by the blocking of Leschied and Kim Klassen (Abbotsford, B.C.) and the serving of Ismay Schon (Langley) the Spartans took the next four points to tie the final set at 12-12. They played side out for the next two points. Then UBC's Cordonier sealed the match with back-to-back kills for the Thunderbirds.
The Spartans now have a week off of Canada West play. They are back at it again on Nov. 13-14 when they will host the Brandon University Bobcats. The Thunderbirds are also off for the week. Their next Canada West match is at the University of Saskatchewan Huskies on Nov. 13-14.
