SASKATOON, Saskatchewan – The Trinity Western Spartans lost the opening set, 25-19, but rallied to take the next three sets and defeat the Saskatchewan Huskies 3-1 Sunday afternoon at the Physical Activity Centre in Saskatoon, Sask. The 19-25, 25-16, 26-24, 25-21 win evens the best-of-three series at 1-1 forcing a third and deciding match Sunday afternoon in Saskatoon, Sask.
 
Third-year outside Maryn Boldon (Okotoks, Alta.) with 18 kills, six digs, three blocks, and one service ace, third-year outside Faye Murray (Rosenort, Man.) with 15 kills, and 14 digs, and a block, and fourth-year middle Kaylee Plouffe (Sherwood Park, Alta.) with 14 kills, six digs, and three blocks, led the Spartans.
 
Taryn Hannah with 12 kills, Jessica Bergstrom with 10 kills, and nine blocks, and Rosetta Cyr with eight kills, 12 digs, and two blocks, led the Huskies.
 
Rookie setter Tayana Dmitruk (Surrey, B.C.) finished with 41 set assists and eight digs for the Spartans. Tielle Hagel finished with 38 set assists and nine digs for the Huskies.
 
UP NEXT
The Spartans and Huskies will finish the best-of-three play-in series tomorrow afternoon at the Physical Activity Centre in Saskatoon, Sask. The match time is set for 3 p.m. (CT) and can be seen live on Canada West TV.
 
QUOTABLE
Trinity Western Head Coach Ryan Hofer
"I am proud of the way our team came together to fight this afternoon. They played with incredible grit and resilience.  Last week's games and this week's play in series with Saskatchewan have been hard-fought and produced great volleyball from both teams.  I believe we are getting better with each match and playing some of our best volleyball of the season."
 
Bolden after the Spartans win
"I think we just had a fire in us. We've been seeing this potential all season and we've really just been building on that, understanding our strengths and using them to our advantage. I think it was a whole team effort."

AS IT HAPPENED
The Spartans and Huskies exchanged early runs but were tied at 9-9 when Saskatchewan started to take control of the opening set. The Huskies used a 6-2 run to take a 15-11 lead midway through the set. The Spartans again responded to make it a one-point set trailing 17-16. From that point, Saskatchewan took control and used an 8-3 run to take the opening set 25-19. TWU hit .094 (11-8-32), while Saskatchewan hit .308 (12-4-26).
 
TWU was better in the second set and after a Boldon kill had built a significant seven-point, 15-8, lead. The teams exchanged points to 21-12 for TWU. The Huskies then took three straight points to cut the lead to six points, trailing 21-15. Spartans fourth-year outside Grace McGillivray (Langley, B.C.) ended the run with a kill to put TWU up 22-15. Murray gave the Spartans set point, and Boldon gave the Spartans the second set 25-16 with back-to-back points to even the match up at 1-1. The Spartans hit .345 (14-4-29), while the Huskies hit .138 (9-5-29).
 
The Spartans McGillivray had three straight service aces to get the Spartans early in the set to give TWU early momentum. Murray gave TWU an early 10-7 lead with a hard kill off blockers. The Spartans expanded their lead to four points, 15-11, with Boldon and second-year middle (Airdrie, Alta.) blocking Hannah and forcing Saskatchewan into a timeout. Out of the timeout the Huskies took three straight points and after a Cyr kill had made it a one-point match, with Saskatchewan trailing 15-14. Back-to-back kills by Boldon gave TWU back their three-point lead, 17-14. After side-out points, a Boldon kill gave TWU back its three-point lead, 23-20, but Saskatchewan took the next three points to tie the set at 23-23. An attack error after an extended rally gave TWU set points at 24-23. With the Huskies taking a timeout. Saskatchewan held off a set point to tie at 24-24. The Spartans took the next point on a service error and then after another extended rally took the set with Plouffe and Stothart blocking Cyr to give TWU the set 26-24 and a 2-1 set lead. TWU hit .222 (14-6-36), while Saskatchewan hit .256 (14-4-39).
 
The Spartans carried the third set win into the fourth set and quickly jumped out to a seven-point, 10-3, lead after a Murray kill. The Huskies responded and used an 8-1 run to cut the Spartans lead to two-points, 13-11 after a Hannah kill. The teams exchanged points to 21-18 for TWU. The Spartans then took back-to-back points to get to a five-point, 23-18 lead. The Huskies responded and took the next three points to make it a two-point set, 23-21 after a Hannah kill. After another extended rally, Murray gave TWU set and match point at 24-21. The Spartans' Dmitruk and McGillivray ended the match with a block of Hannah to give TWU the set 25-21 and the match 3-1. The Spartans hit .300 (17-5-40), while the Huskies hit .216 (12-4-37).
 
NOTABLE 

• TWU finished the night hitting .241 (56-23-137), while Saskatchewan hit at .229 (47-17-131).
• The Spartans finished with eight blocks, while the Huskies finished with 11.
• TWU had a 6-4 edge in service aces.
• TWU had 59 digs to Saskatchewan's 51.
• The Spartans are currently 41-19 lifetime against the Huskies.
• The Spartans enter the CW playoffs as the ninth seed, against the eighth seed Saskatchewan Huskies.
• Last night the Spartans dropped the opening match 3-1 (25-20, 25-23, 21-25, 25-23).
• Last week the Spartans swept the Huskies 3-2, and 3-1 at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. to secure a post-season berth.
• The series winner advances to the Canada West quarterfinal against the Fraser Valley Cascades in Abbotsford, B.C.

About Spartan Athletics
As official members of U SPORTS, the Spartans currently compete in 13 sports in the Canada West conference, including women's and men's soccer, volleyball, basketball, hockey, cross country, and track & field, as well as women's rugby sevens. TWU also competes as an independent team in men's rugby. Since TWU entered U SPORTS in 1999, the Spartans have won 14 U SPORTS team championships and 34 Canada West team championships.
 
About Trinity Western University
Recognized for quality, TWU has received seven consecutive A+ rankings for Quality of Teaching and Learning, holds three Canada Research Chairs, and wins national championships in U SPORTS. More importantly, lives are changed at TWU through its whole-person, Christ-centred approach to education. With a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and adult degree-completion programs, TWU equips leaders of character and competence to make a positive impact in the lives of others.
 
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