The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack are hoping lightning strikes more than twice when they pay a visit to the Saville Centre in Edmonton, Alberta this weekend.  
The Pack are battling the University of Alberta Pandas in a best of three Canada West women's volleyball quarterfinal.  The series begins Friday (Feb 22) afternoon.

TRU was one of two schools to beat the Pandas, who are hosting the USPORTS Nationals next month, on their home court this season.
Alberta is ranked seventh in the weekly U SPORTS top 10 rankings.

The teams have met before in post-season play. It was in 2011-12 where the Pack went to Alberta and lost to the Pandas in the quarterfinals. The Pandas beat Thompson Rivers 3-0 both nights.
 
 DETAILS:

Date: Fri Feb 22/ Sat Feb 23/Sun Feb 24    Time: 4 pm/3 pm/1 pm  MDT
Location: Saville Centre,  University of Alberta,  Edmonton, AB    
TRU Record: 13-11 (6^th in league)   Last 5 outings: 4-1      on the road this year 4-6
Alberta Record: 18-6 (3^rd in league)   Last 5 outings:  5-0  at home this year 10-2


Important Game Notes:

The Pandas lost only twice on home court this year and one of them was to the WolfPack.  TRU beat Alberta in straight sets on December 1^st.  The setback snapped Alberta's five match home winning streak. The only other team to beat Alberta at home this year were the Saskatchewan Huskies.

Alberta head coach Laurie Eisler is the winningest coach in Alberta history with 744 victories. She has coached 7 USPORTS champions with the latest team capturing the national title in 2017. She has been named Canada West coach of the year eight times with the last honor coming in that 2017 season. Eisler has coached at the Canada West level for 28 years.

All  quarter final matches this weekend can be seen on Canada West TV on a pay-per-view basis.


Thoughts from WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm:

1.On going into Alberta where they beat them earlier this season: " We have played well down the stretch and had some success for the first time in that building which is nice. But we also know that Alberta is a tough team. They are hosting the national championship and are tough on their own court  We are looking forward to a tough series."
2. How do the WolfPack match up against the Pandas?  "They are a tough match up. They have quality people at every position. We are going to need to be tough from the service line, we will have to receive the ball well as always. They don't make many mistakes. We are going to have to manage the game quite well if we want to have a chance."
3. The Pack had a lot of 'character building' situations to deal with during their run to the playoffs,
will that be a factor going into this series?"We have had some must wins down the stretch to get into the playoffs. The girls have performed well in those situations. The longer the match, the better for us, the longer the series, the better for us. The girls have found a way to stay patient and not get too high or too low. The score will be variable. But they have found a way to not panic and just mentally be tough in those situations when things get tight."
 
4. On diversified offense. " You can just look to our last match where we had four people in double digits with kills. That is something that we really focused on—distributing the ball a little bit more. I think when you get to playoffs, the teams are good. If you just have one option, even if it is a real good option, it is tough to win. We have done a better job this year of diversifying our offense."
 
Players to Watch:

TRU:

Olga Savenchuk (1^st year, outside hitter, Donetsk, Ukraine):  fourth in Canada West in kills (340) and kills per set (3.78). she led the Pack in points per set (4.4). second on the team with 271 digs.
Kendra Finch (4^th year, outside hitter, North Vancouver, BC):  led the team with 31 service aces and was second in kills with 266.  She led the team with 286 digs. Second on the team in points per set with 3.5.
Avery Pottle (3^rd year, middle, Uxbridge, Ontario): third on the team with 137 kills and a team high 78 blocks including 60 block assists.
Hali Drezet (3^rd year, libero, Prince George, BC): third on the team with 243 digs


Alberta Pandas :

Mariah Walsh (5^th year, setter, Calgary, AB): led Canada West in assists per set (10.50).tied for third on the team with 188 digs
Vanessa Jarman (3^rd year, middle, Edmonton, AB): fourth in Canada West in hitting percentage (.301). third on the team with 150 kills, third on the team in service aces with 27 and led the team in blocks with 76 (63 assists).
Kory White (3^rd year, outside hitter, Edmonton, AB): third in Canada West in kills with 374. Tied for third on the team with 188 digs.
Julia Zonneveld (2^nd year, outside hitter, Calgary, AB): fourth in Canada West in digs per set (3.88). Second on the team in kills (226), led the team in service aces (41) and a team high for digs at 326.

Home game/match highlights will be available by logging onto www.gowolfpack.tru.ca as will away match results.