LANGLEY, B.C.– The Trinity Western Spartans booked a spot in the Canada West final four with a convincing 3-0 win over the visiting Saskatchewan Huskies Friday night at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The 25-18, 25-13, 25-16 win gave TWU the series 2-0 and a berth in next week's final four in Edmonton, Alta.
 
Fifth-year middle Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with 11 kills, five aces, and three digs, second-year outside Sienna Driedger (Grunthal, Man.) with 10 kills, three aces, and three digs, and fourth-year outside Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) with eight kills, seven digs, and two aces led the Spartans.
 
Jessica Bergstrom, Keely Anderson, and Rosetta Cyr all had five kills for the Huskies, with Cyr adding five digs to her totals.
 
TWU second-year setter Tayana Dmitruk (Surrey, B.C.) ran the Spartan attack, finishing with 23 set assists. Saskatchewan's Tielle Hagel finished with 15 set assists for the Huskies.
 
QUOTABLE
Ryan Hofer, TWU Head Coach
I'm just really proud of this group for earning their way to the national championship. They've worked really hard over a body of time. They've put in a lot of hard work relationally on the court, off the court, and I'm really proud to see that they get to reap the rewards of that work."
 
AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans and Huskies were even,9-9, to start the opening set. But as the set progressed, TWU gradually gained control. A 5-1 run gave TWU a 14-10 lead after a Sienna Driedger kill. The Spartans got to set point, 24-17, after a Plouffe kill. Plouffe would then finish off the set with a cross-court attack to put TWU up 1-0 with the 25-18 first set win. TWU hit at .323 (14-4-31), while Saskatchewan hit at .115 (9-6-26).
 
TWU came out on fire to start the second set and quickly jumped out to a 6-1 lead after a Driedger kill and forced Saskatchewan into a timeout. The Huskies were able to cut the Spartans' lead to two points, 7-5, after a Rosetta Cyr kill and a TWU attack error. But that was as close as Saskatchewan would get. TWU then went on another 6-1 run to extend their lead to five points, 13-6, after a Driedger ace. From there, the Spartans rolled through the set, extending their lead to 12 points, 21-9, after a Plouffe kill, before taking the set 25-13, to lead 2-0. TWU hit at .310 (13-4-29), while Saskatchewan hit at .038 (5-4-26).
 
The Spartans continued their dominant play in the final set and quickly jumped out to a six-point, 12-16 lead after a Boldon kill. Another Plouffe kill expanded the TWU lead to nine points, 18-9, as the Huskies took a timeout to slow the Spartans down. The Huskies came out of the break and took the next three points and cut the TWU lead to six points, 18-12, after a Hannah kill, forcing the Spartans into a timeout. Saskatchewan pushed to close the gap, but were not able to get closer than five points as TWU took the final set 25-16. Giving TWU the match 3-0 and the series 2-0. The Spartans hit at .182 (9-5-22), while the Huskies hit at .087 (21-15-76) in the final set.
 
NOTABLE

• The Spartans finished the night hitting at .280 (36-13-82) while the Huskies finished at .079 (21-15-76).
• The Spartans had a 10-2 edge in service aces and digs 33-27.
• The Huskies finished with a 5-3 advantage in blocks.
• Trinity Western is currently 43-20 lifetime against Saskatchewan.
• Last night the Spartans defeated the Huskies 3-0 (30-28, 28-26, 25-15)
• The Spartans finished 15-5 in conference play and third place in Canada West, while the Huskies finished 12-8 in CW and in sixth place.
• Last year, the Spartans swept the Huskies in conference play, winning 3-2 and 3-1, while losing 2-1 in the best-of-three Canada West play-in series in Saskatoon, Sask., losing 3-1, winning 3-1, and losing 3-0.
• The Spartans are led by Canada West first-team all-stars fourth-year outside Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) and fifth-year middle Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.)
• The Huskies are led by Canada West second-team all-star fourth-year outside Taryn Hannah (North Battleford, Sask.)