LANGLEY, B.C. – The No. 1 Trinity Western women’s volleyball team continued its strong start to the season, defeating the visiting MacEwan Griffins in straight sets (25-16, 25-15, 25-13) Saturday at the Langley Events Centre.
 
Hilary Howe (Calgary) once again led the way for the Spartans, earning a match-high seven serving aces and 13 kills while hitting .429. TWU Setter Dora Komlodi (Calgary) had a match high 22 assists in the TWU win. 
 
MacEwan’s attack was led by Hailey Cornelis, who contributed eight kills while hitting .190.
 
As a team, the Spartans hit .403, with only 10 errors on 72 attacks.
 
TWU improved to 6-0 on the season, while MacEwan drops to 2-4 with the loss.
 
Serving aces favoured the Spartans 13-5, while MacEwan managed 10 serving errors compared to TWU’s nine.
 
The Spartans also hit .403 compared to the Griffins .088 in the game.
 
TWU carried control of the game throughout all three sets, winning the first set 25-16 with Komlodi guiding the offence with 10 assists.
 
Into the second set the Spartans continued rolling, with Howe contributing  six kills for TWU, as the Spartans took the second set 25-13.
 
Howe then hit six serving aces for the Spartans in the third and final set, as TWU swept MacEwan in straight sets for the second consecutive night.
 
QUOTABLE
Ryan Hofer – TWU Head Coach
“We remembered when we were in MacEwan last year (and lost both matches) and we were dialed in knowing the level they played there. We knew we had to play at that level to have success this weekend. We went into tonight with a lot of respect for MacEwan and that forced us to stay focused from start to finish. We knew that anytime they could break free and find a rhythm.
 
“I feel both teams served really well. We worked really hard to keep their middles in check and we needed to serve well to consistently put them in difficult situations. We had to also hit high and hard at hands and I felt our team did a really good job of that. Hitting .400 is a pretty big deal.”
 
NOTABLE

• Hilary Howe’s seven aces in the game tied third highest in school history in a 3-set win. Lies Verhoeff leads 2002 in Winnipeg (10)
• TWU came into the weekend coming off a pair of three-set victories over Winnipeg last Friday and Saturday (Oct. 25-26).
• The Spartans now hold a 10-2 all-time record against the Griffins, with its only two losses coming last season on the road (Feb. 8-9, 2019).

 
NEXT UP
The Spartans have a bye next weekend before taking their unbeaten record to the road against Manitoba Friday and Saturday in Winnipeg (Nov. 15-16).  

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 11 sports in the Canada West conference, including women’s and men’s soccer, volleyball, basketball, cross country and track & field, as well as women’s rugby sevens. TWU also competes in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League (BCIHL) in men’s hockey and as an independent team in men’s rugby. The men’s and women’s hockey programs will begin playing in Canada West and U SPORTS in 2020-21. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 12 U SPORTS team championships and 27 Canada West team championships and two BCIHL championships.

[SOURCE: Trinity Western University]