The Trinity Western Spartans showed little rust as they returned from the holiday break for the second half of the Canada West volleyball season.
The women's volleyball team improved to 6-0 at home with a 3-1 victory over the Brandon Bobcats at the Langley Events Centre on Jan. 10.
The teams traded the first two sets — Trinity Western won 25-17 while Brandon took set two 25-21 — before the Spartans closed things out with 25-15 and 25-18 wins, respectively.
"Coming off the Christmas break, we've worked hard to prepare for this match and I was very pleased with how my team played," said coach Ryan Hofer.
"I was happy with how we came out and competed.
"I thought we let up a little bit in that second set, but overall, I was very pleased with our play, especially with how we served."
Amber Brown and Royal Richardson led the offence with 13 kills apiece, while Brown added 11 digs and Richardson 10.
Setter Kelci French filled the stat line as she had 35 assists to go with four aces, eight blocks and eight digs. She now has 34 aces on the season, which is just two shy of the program record.
Amy Ott added nine kills and four blocks while Nicole Bazin and Alicia Perrin each had six blocks and Kristen Moncks had a match-high 32 assists.
The Spartans out-hit their opponent thanks to a .268 hitting percentage, compared to Brandon's .095. The team also had a 14-7 blocking advantage.
"We have some bodies that aren't quite as healthy as we'd like, so we needed others to puck up their games around them," Hofer said.
The Spartans, who are ranked fourth in the country, improved to 11-2 on the season. The teams will finish the two-game set on Jan. 12 at 12:30 p.m.