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Spartans clinch post season spot with victory over Huskies
LANGLEY, British Columbia – Led by middle Amy Leschied, of
East Selkirk, Man., who finished with 12 kills and four blocks the
No. 5 ranked Trinity Western University Spartans defeated the
visiting University of Saskatchewan Huskies in straight sets 25-19,
25-18 and 25-17 Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in
Langley, B.C. to improve to 10-7, while dropping the Huskies to
3-14.
“Amy played outstanding tonight. She played with control and
hit with a variety of shots and Lauren delivered the ball very well
to her tonight. Amy has gotten progressively better throughout the
season and we are excited to how the season is going to finish for
her,” commented TWU head coach Ryan Hofer. “As a team
we executed our game plan and were solid tonight. We still had a
number of unforced errors which we will look to improve on
tomorrow.”
In addition to Leschied the Spartans had strong performances from
outside hitter Kara Jansen Van Doorn of Langley, B.C. with seven
kills, three blocks and three digs and setter Lauren O’Reilly
of Langley, B.C. who finished with 24 set assists, three digs, one
ace and one block. In the loss the Huskies were led by rightside
Candace Hueser of Dalmeny, Sask who finished with 12 kills, six
digs and three blocks and leftside Ashley Schurko of Archerwill,
Sask. who finished with seven kills and seven digs.
Leschied was strong from the start she finished the first set with
six kills and two blocks, as the Spartans jumped out to take a 1-0
lead with a 25-19 first set victory over the Huskies. TWU
controlled the play throughout most of the set leading 8-3 and 16-9
at the two breaks. The blocking of the Huskies Danae Lockert of
Moose Jaw, Sask., with three straight blocks, allowed Saskatchewan
to climb back into the set with a 7-1 run to trail 17-16 and force
TWU into a timeout. The break settled the Spartans who took five of
the next six points to lead 22-17 on their way to a six point first
set win. TWU finished the set hitting 21.9 percent, while
Saskatchewan finished hitting at 12.1 percent.
The second set was close to the first break with TWU holding a two
point lead, 8-6. The Huskies took the next point on a miss hit by
outside hitter Kim Klassen of Abbotsford, B.C. to trail 8-7. The
point would be one of only two points that the Huskies would earn
between the two breaks as the Spartans took over the middle part of
the set by going on an 8-1 run to lead 16-8 at the second break.
TWU carried the momentum through to the end of the set as the
played side-out ball to take the set 25-18. The Spartans improved
their attack in the set hitting 29.1 percent, while the Huskies
regressed to hitting zero percent. The Huskies were led by Hueser
with five kills in the set, while the Spartans had three kills each
from Leschied and Jansen Van Doorn.
TWU rolled nicely into the third set and jumped out to an 8-3 lead
at the first break. The Spartans doubled their lead to the second
break leading 16-10. With the six point lead TWU exchanged points
with Saskatchewan on their way to a 25-17 win to take the match in
straight sets. The Spartans finished the set hitting 22.6 percent
to the Huskies 20.8 percent
The two teams will match up again tomorrow night at 5 p.m. at the
Langley Events Centre.
Tonight’s match was broadcasted live on SpartanTV at
goSpartans.ca.
Match Notes: Saskatchewan outblocked TWU seven to six… the
Spartans finished with 32 digs to the Huskies 30…TWU
finished the set hitting at 24.1 percent, while Saskatchewan
finished at 10.5 percent…with 20 points on the season the
Spartans have clinched a post season spot as they lead eighth place
Winnipeg by eight points with three matches remaining…
Source:
Scott Stewart
Sports Information Director
Trinity Western University
