Home sweet home for the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women's volleyball team.

The Pack opened up the 2020 home portion of their Canada West regular season with a straight set victory over the Manitoba Bisons. The scores Friday (Jan 10) at the Tournament Capital Centre were 25-16,25-22,25-12.

Thompson Rivers moves to 11-4 on the campaign while the Bisons drop to 2-13.

The Pack were led on the scoreboard by Kendra Finch. The fifth year outside hitter from North Vancouver, BC had 14 kills in 33 opportunities including five kills in the final set.  She also had seven digs a solo block and one block assist.   Olga Savenchuk (2^nd year, outside hitter, Donetsk, Ukraine) had 11 kills in 22 chances with six digs and two block assists.   Anastasiia Muzyka (3^rd year, setter, Poltawa, Ukraine) accounted for 26 assists while Abby Spratt (4^th year, setter, Calgary, AB) had 3 assists and two service aces.

Manitoba's top gunner was first year outside hitter Light Uchechuwku (Winnipeg, MB) with 10 kills in 27 swings.  Kearley Abbott (4^th year, outside hitter, Winnipeg, MB) had eight kills in 21 chances with 13 digs and two service aces.  Kelsey Jordan (3^rd year, setter, Brandon, MB)  added 19 assists for the Bisons.

Outside hitter Morgan Rigelhof (4^th year, St. Albert, AB) was named "The Den"  Leader of the Pack player of the match.  She had six kills in eight opportunities with one dig and one block assist.

SYNOPSIS:

The WolfPack jumped out to a quick lead.  Up 5-2, both teams had a long rally which was capped off when  Finch  put the ball through a seem on the left side of the Manitoba court.  Bisons coach Ken Bentley called a time out and it spurred on his team as they scored the next four of the next five points to tie things at six.  Thanks to a kill by Rigelhof ( which went off two Manitoba blockers, the Pack entered the first tech time out of the match leading 16-12.  Rigelhof came into the match when TRU starter and Canada West all-star  Savenchuk  needed some medical attention.  Savenchuk returned after that time out and had seven scoring points in that first period which was won by the Pack 25-16.   The Bisons had no service errors in the first set compared to TRU's seven.

The second set saw Manitoba jump out to an early lead which lasted until the WolfPack scored five straight to go ahead 7-4.  The Bisons responded with six of their own to retake the lead at 10-7 prompting Pack head coach Chad Grimm to call a time out.  The Bisons extended their lead to four (14-10)  led by some key plays from Uchechukwu .  Uchechukwu had  five kills in the set for the Bisons. The Pack executed a double sub bringing in Spratt  and Righelhof.  A Spratt service ace and an attack error by Manitoba gave the Pack a 16-15 advantage going into the technical time out.  TRU rolled out of the break scoring five straight points. But a Manitoba time out gave them momentum and they scored six in a row (including a point where the Pack were out of rotation) to cut the deficit to 22-21.   Thanks to a kill by Finch (one of four of her in the set), Thompson Rivers won the second set 25-22.

In the third set, TRU jumped out to a 3-1 lead which included a huge block by Erin Mutch (2^nd year, outside, Victoria, BC) which resulted in Ksenya Kocyigit (1^st year, Byaroza, Belarus) getting an arm on the ball fooling the Manitoba defenders.   The Pack took advantage of some Manitoba inexperience and found themselves up 16-11 at the break.  Thompson Rivers came out of the break and got back to back points from Avery Pottle (4^th year, middle, Uxbridge, ON) to go up by eight 19-11. That signaled the Canada West debut of Kendal Stephan (2^nd year, outside hitter, Springwater, ON).   Stephan transferred to TRU from Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association champion VIU Mariners of Nanaimo, BC during the off season. Then at 22-12,  Grimm inserted Nicole Reid (3^rd  year, outside hitter, Chilliwack, BC) who made her Canada West debut.  The Pack took the third set and the match 25-12.
 
HIGHLIGHTS:

https://youtu.be/-FS5Rt7sgs0
 
THEY SAID IT!
WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm (5^th year):
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1215873344194564096 
 
WolfPack outside hitter Morgan Rigelhof (4^th year, St. Albert, AB):
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1215873225667645446  

Manitoba head coach Ken Bentley (33^rd season):
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1215874753325490177 
 
 
NEXT UP:

The Bisons and the WolfPack will close out their weekend series on Saturday (Jan 11).  They will hit the court at the Tournament Capital Centre at 5 PM PDT.  The match is available on a pay-per-view basis on Canada West TV presented by Co-op.  You can access it by accessing: https://cw.yaretv.com/.  

James Matthews and former WolfPack women's volleyball setter Katie Mathews (Woo): the only husband/wife webcasting crew in the Canada West will have the call of both matches this weekend.  CFJC TV's Dylana Milobar will be in the in game host.

Results will be available on the WolfPack social media platforms and their website  www.goWolfPack.ca.
Next weekend (Jan 17-18), Thompson Rivers will be on the road at Mount Royal while Manitoba will entertain the UBC Thunderbirds.