Spartans split with rabid Cougar women

Posted by admin on Jan 18, 2010 in Sports | 0 comments

The TWU Spartan women’s volleyball team hosted the #6 ranked, Regina Cougars this past weekend at the LEC. The Spartans entered the weekend 6-6 and were looking for sweep against the respectable Cougars team, who held a 6-4 record heading into the matches.
However, the Spartans only came away with a split over the weekend, something Head Coach Ryan Hofer felt was a mixed result. Hofer noted ,“this past weekend versus the Cougars was a mix of “great” volleyball and “ok” volleyball.Canada West is a tough league and if you bring “ok” volleyball on any night you probably won’t get what your looking for. I felt we played very competitive on the Saturday night, but Friday night was missing our best ball.”

On Friday night, the Cougars were the better finishers, sweeping the Spartans in three sets: 25-21, 25-22, 25-21. Meagan Onstad and Beth Clark took command of the attacking all night, both of whom posted double digits in kills.

However, Saturday night was a different story. The Spartans looked energized from the beginning and dominated the play throughout the entire night.

In the first set the Spartans came out to an unenthusiastic Cougars team, led by perfect sets from Lauren O’Reilly and a wonderful display of hitting from Kim Klassen. The Spartans took the first set 25-11 off of a lot of defensive miscues by the Cougars.

In the second set, the Cougars came out hungry, looking to take back to back games against the Spartans. The Cougards and the Spartans exchanged points back and forth throughout the set, allowing the Cougards a 3 point lead with set point in mand. However, much to their dismay, the Spartans battled back and managed to tie up the game by surprising the Cougars with four straight blocks, visibly frustrating the Cougars. At 24-24, Nicole Basin took over the game with two powerful kills, which allowed the Spartans to win the set and look for the sweep.

In the third set, the Cougars appeared emotionally drained. Down 16-13 after a timeout, the Spartans went on a 12-7 to finish the set and take the sweep on Saturday night. The split between both sides moved the Cougars to 6-5, while the Spartans climbed back to .500 at 7-7.

The Spartans now have six games left before playoffs begin, where the top 8 teams from Canada West qualify. At this time, the Spartans are currently sitting in 7th position and as Hofer added, “we have four weeks until playoffs and we must take care of each match until then. This week we are preparing for Winnipeg and we cannot look past them.