The Trinity Western Spartans are in Hamilton this week where they look to return to the podium at the CIS national women’s volleyball championships.
The Spartans are seeded sixth at the eight-team event after winning bronze over the weekend at the Canada West championships.
After losing to UBC 3-0 (25-17,25-12,25-20) in the Canada West semifinals, the Spartans faced a must-win game against Winnipeg.
And the Spartans came through, prevailing 3-0 (25-23,25-18,30-28).
While the Spartans got the win, they didn’t make it easy on themselves as they had to eke out wins in both the first and third sets after possessing four-point leads at match point on both occasions.
“I thought our blocking was what did it for us in this game,” said Spartans coach Ryan Hofer.
“We passed well and did OK offensively, but Alicia (Perrin) did a fantastic job at the net.
“Our wing blockers did a good job of containing it, and we picked up the ball and looked in transition for the kill.”
Royal Richardson had 10 kills and five digs while Perrin had 11 blocks and four kills.
Kelci French had eight kills, eight digs and four blocks and Chelsea Hudson had 26 assists and six block assists.
The Spartans face the third-ranked Montreal Carabins in a quarter-final match on Friday (March 2). The eight-team tournament is at Hamilton’s McMaster University.
Prior to the Canada West championships, Perrin and Richardson were named to the Canada West first and second all-star teams, respectively.
Perrin, a middle for the Trinity Western Spartans women’s volleyball team, was second in the Canada West with a .328 hitting percentage and third in the conference with 1.16 blocks per set.
Richardson was fifth in the conference in kills with 3.16 per set.
