The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack know they will have their work cut out for them as they open up their final Canada West men's volleyball homestand of the 2018-19 regular season.

The Pack are riding a two match winning streak but they are facing the number one team in Canada in the Brandon University Bobcats.
The two teams will square off on the championship court at the Tournament Capital Centre on Friday and Saturday nights (Feb 1-2).  Both matches have 645 pm start times.

The Bobcats are unbeaten in their last five matches and are 7-2 on the road this season.

These are the final two matches of the regular season for the Pack at the TCC.  The following weekend (Feb 8-9), the WolfPack host former assistant coach Nathan Bennett and the Saskatchewan Huskies. Those matches will be played at the old TRU Gym because an indoor track meet has forced Thompson Rivers to vacate their regular haunt.

 DETAILS:

Date: Fri Feb 1 / Sat Feb 2   Time: 6:45 PM PDT  both nights
Location:  Championship court, Tournament Capital Centre, Kamloops, BC               
TRU Record: 9-7                     Last 5 matches: 2-3      at home this year  6-2
Brandon Record: 16-2             Last 5 matches: 5-0      on the road this year   7-2


Important Game Notes:

These teams met last year in Kamloops (Nov 3-4) where the Bobcats swept the weekend series in straight sets. The scores Friday night were 25-14,25-18,25-14.  Scores Saturday were 25-20,25-20, 25-17.

If you can't make the matches, they are available on a 'pay per view' basis on Canada West TV. James Matthews will be doing the play by play with former WolfPack player Morgan Kolasa providing the commentary both nights.

Thoughts from WolfPack head coach  Pat Hennelly:

"We have had some great matches and playoff games against Brandon. The past couple of years have been all Brandon and they are looking good again this year. I am looking forward to playing #1 in the country at home it is one of the great aspects of playing in the Canada West conference. Brandon has good size are well coached and has played some great volleyball in the second semester. For us to be successful we will have to have all 6 servers on their A game and our Block and D will have to be solid. 
 
 We had a good weekend in Manitoba and improved our play the second night. It was nice to see our team get stronger serving and blocking the second night and we had contributions from all seven starters. This is going t be a tight race I think you need 11 wins to get in and looks like there may be some ties around 10 or 11 wins. It was big for us to get to 9 with 6 matches left on our schedule. Every win is a bit more comfort and all spots from 4th-9th are still open for us. "
 
Players to Watch:

TRU:

Tim Dobbert (5^th year, outside, Aichelberg, Germany): lads the Canada West in kills (283) and is second in kills per set (4.56). He was the Canada West third star of the week this week Dobbert 15 service aces (third highest on the team) and has the most points scored per set on the WolfPack (5.1).
Kyle Behiels (4^th year, middle, Edmonton, AB):  He is fifth in Canada West in service aces (0.44) per set. He has a team high six solo blocks (tied with teammate Anton Napolitano and has 41 total blocks which is second behind Sam Taylor Parks (4^th year, middle, Kelowna, BC) who has 44.
Anton Napolitano (2^nd year, setter, Victoria, Australia):  stands second in the league in service aces per set (0.57).  He leads the team with 528 assists and is second on the team in digs with 83.


Brandon:

Brady Nault (5^th year, libero, Winnipeg, MB):  is fourth in Canada West in digs per set (2.26) he also has a team leading 131 digs as he has played 58 sets in 18 matches.
 Elliot Viles (3^rd year, left side, Adelaide, Australia):  has a hitting percentage of .366 which is second best in the Canada West. Just ahead of teammate Robin Baghdady at .360.  Baghdady (1^st year, middle, Geneva, Switzerland) has a team high 28 service aces this year.  Viles is a member of the Australian National team.
Mason Metcalf (4^th year, Middle, Carman, MB): second in Canada West in blocks per set (1.26). He has a team leading 73 blocks (59 of them block assists this year).
Reece Dixon (4^th year, setter, Sherwood Park, AB) : leads Canada West in assists per set (11.55). He has 11 service aces this year which is fourth on the team

Watch home match highlights and interviews on the WolfPack website: www.gowolfpack.ca