Box Score LANGLEY, B.C. - In a battle between the top two teams in the West division, the UBC Okanagan Heat women's volleyball fell to the Trinity Western Spartans in three sets (25-23, 25-20, and 25-20) on Friday night.
The Heat, who were 6-2 going into the match, jumped on the Spartans early as they hoped to capture the opening set, opening up an early three-point lead. However, the Spartans wouldn't go away and eventually pulled even. As the team's traded points late in the set, an ace by the Spartans proved to be the difference as they took the opening set by two points.
The narrow victory seemed to give the home team a lift as key runs in the second and third set opened up insurmountable gaps for the Heat to overcome as they dropped their second straight contest.
Jade Bussard, a fourth year from Red Deer Alta., was on fire in the first set for the Heat, contributing 6 kills in the first set and eventually finished with 11 total, to go along with 5 digs and a block for a total of 13 points.
For the Spartans, they were led by the duo of Avery Heppell, a fourth-year middle from Langley, B.C. and Savannah Purdy, a third-year outside hitter from Victoria, B.C. who were both a presence at the net all afternoon. Purdy posted a team-high 11 kills while Heppell added seven while both added a pair of blocks.
With the loss, the Heat (6-3) fall two games behind the Spartans (8-1) in the battle for first place in the Canada West West division.
The two teams will be back on the court on Saturday afternoon for a rematch as the Heat aim for a weekend split. First serve is set fro 2 p.m. and the game can be seen live on CanadaWest.tv.
