The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men's volleyball team has seen their 2018-19 Canada West season come to an end.

After knocking off the Alberta Golden Bears in the quarter finals in two straight matches last weekend, the 'Pack found themselves eliminated in the semifinals in two straight.

Thompson Rivers lost game two of their best of three series with the host Trinity Western University Spartans 3-0.  The scores on a Friday night (Mar 1) at the Langley Events Centre were 25-22, 25-17, 25-21.

With the win, Trinity Western will vye for their fourth straight Canada West title next week.


SYNOPSIS
Sam Taylor Parks (4^th year, middle, Kelowna, BC) and Tim Dobbert (5^th year, outside hitter, Aichelberg, Germany) each had 10 kills for the WolfPack.  Anton Napolitano (3^rd year, setter, Victoria, AUS) had 23 assists and two service aces.

Trinity's main offensive weapon was Jacob Kern with 7 kills.  Jackson Howe and  Brody Hofer both had four kills while Derek Epp notched 19 assists

The WolfPack and Spartans didn't hit the court until 10:15 pm PDT.  That's because Trinity Western's women's squad played the Alberta Pandas in game two of their Canada West semifinal. Trinity swept the Pandas in two straight winning 3-1 on Friday night.  Trinity will play either Calgary or UBC in the championship final.


KEY STATS:

SCORES:
TRINITY WESTERN:   25   25   25   ---3
TRU                             22   17    21   ---0                         
 
TRU

Tim Dobbert:  10 kills in 29 attempts, 5 digs, 1 assist, 1 block assist
Sam Taylor Parks: 10 kills in 14 opportunities, 4 digs, 2 solo blocks, 1 block assist
Tim Edge: 4 kills in 17 chances, 4 service aces, 1 assist, 1 block assist, 1 dig
Kyle Behiels: 3 kills in 7 chances
Anton Napolitano: 23 assists, 2 service aces, 1 dig
 
TRINITY WESTERN :

Jacob Kern: 7 kills in 17 swings, 2 service aces, 10 digs, 3 block assists, 1 block
Brody Hofer:  4 kills in 12 opportunities, 2 service aces, 3 digs, 2 block assists
Jackson Howe:  4 kills in 6 chances, 4 block assists, 1 service ace
Derek Epp:  19 assists, 4 digs, 6 block assists, 1 service ace
 
THEY SAID IT (post match quotes):

TRU Head Coach Pat Hennelly:

On Match: "Played some pretty solid volleyball. The guys were very good from the start.  Credit to Trinity Western for their play. We lost some ground on transition plays and had some untimely misses from the service line. Overall, an excellent season and proud of the way we handled these two weekends on the road. We made some huge strides this year to get back to the top four in the Canada West. This group finished as strong as many of the TRU teams which made it to Nationals."
 
OF NOTE:  This match was the final one for four members of the WolfPack: Dobbert, Edge, Isaac Smit,  and Cole Hanson.  Dobbert, Edge and Smit are winding up their five-year university eligibility. Hanson is graduating this spring with a Bachelor of Science.

The other Canada West semifinal is now tied up at one match a piece after Friday night. The host Brandon University Bobcats rebounded after an opening night loss to beat the Mount Royal University Cougars 3-1.  The scores were 25-17, 20-25,25-17,25-17.    Canada West rookie all-star Robin Baghdady led the way offensively for the Bobcats with 16 kills in 31 chances with five digs, two assists and three block assists.   Seth Friesen had 13 kills in 28 chances with six digs and a block assist.  Elliot Viles had 11 kills in 29 swings with two service aces, three block assists and one dig.  Reece Dixon had 45 assists, 15 digs and one block assist.

For Mount Royal: Trent Mounter had 11 kills in 31 opportunities with six digs and two block assists. Tyler Schmidt contributed six kills in 38 chances with four service aces, four block assists and two digs.  Tanner Greves had 22 assists, eight digs and one block assist.
 
UP NEXT:
The season is over for the Wolfpack.  Trinity Western will face the winner of Brandon/Mount Royal in the league final.