LANGLEY, B.C. – The UBC Okanagan Heat women's volleyball team battled hard against the U SPORTS No. 7-ranked Trinity Western Spartans on Friday night but ultimately fell in four sets (25-22, 13-25, 25-27, 17-25) at the Langley Events Centre.
The Heat came out of the gates hot in the opening set, hitting a blistering .400 with 11 kills on 25 attacks. That strong attacking efficiency allowed UBCO to pull away from the Spartans late in the frame as an
Amaya Perry (Chin, Alta.) kill would seal the set in favour of the visitors.
Trinity Western would respond in the second set as they jumped out to a 12-4 and would cruise from there to even the match.
The third set was one of runs as UBCO jumped out to an early 5-1 lead before the Spartans roared back to take a 12-7 advantage. The Heat would then respond with an 11-6 run of their own as the two teams looked to gain the edge in the match.
UBCO would earn a match point at 25-24 after a kill from
Olivia Boulding of Victoria, but three straight points from the Spartans, including the final two from Kaylee Plouffe of Sherwood Park, Alta., would give the hosts the set win.
The Heat would continue to battle as they looked to send the match to a fifth set and a 3-1 run in the middle of the frame saw them trailing by just a point, 16-15. But Trinity Western found another gear, closing the set on a 9-2 run to earn the victory.
Boulding would pace the way for the Heat, finishing with 11 kills, while the Heat middles of
Natalie Funk of Strathmore, Alta., and
Madison Gardner of Vernon, B.C., combined for 10 kills, 10 blocks and 20.5 points in a strong effort.
Maryn Boldon of Okotoks, Alta., led all players with 19 kills for the Spartans.
For the match, UBCO hit .157 percent (35 kills on 108 attacks) while Trinity Western hit .250 percent (55 kills on 132 attacks). UBCO would lead the block party, posting 11 compared to 8 for the Spartans.
The loss drops the Heat to 2-3 on the season, with all three setbacks coming to nationally-ranked opponents. Meanwhile Trinity Western moves to 5-2 on the year.
The two teams will square off once again on Saturday afternoon when they meet at the Langley Events Centre. First serve is set for 4 p.m. and the game can be seen live on CanadaWest.tv presented by BioSteel.
