Another weekend fighting for playoff positioning. That is the scenario facing the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men's volleyball team as Canada West play resumes on Friday (Jan 17).

The WolfPack are on the road in Calgary this weekend meeting up with the Mount Royal Cougars. Thompson Rivers is 1-8 away from the Tournament Capital Centre this year while the Cougars are .500 (3-3) at home in 2019-20.

Match times are  6 PM MDT on Friday (Jan 17) and  5 PM MDT on Saturday (Jan 18).

RECORDS OF NOTE:

The WolfPack and the Cougars are both on the 'outside looking in' when it comes to playoff positioning going into this weekend. Thompson Rivers has a 3-11 record  and have a set won/loss record of (20-38). That is good enough for 10 th spot.  The Cougars have lost their last six matches in a row and sit with a 4-10 record with a set win/loss record of (19-32).

WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES:

Last season, the teams met at the TCC where Mount Royal took both of the matches. On January 11, 2019  Mount Royal won 3-0 (25-22,25-18,25-20).  Trent Mounter had 10 kills in 22 swings with six digs while Luis Lange had eight kills.  Thompson Rivers was led by Tim Dobbert with 14 kills. Charlie Bringloe had eight kills in 20 swings while Anton Napolitano had 23 assists and four digs.

The following night (Jan 12, 2019) the teams went five sets with the Cougars winning 25-27,30-28,23-25,25-15,17-15.  Tyler Schmidt (who later that season would set the new Canada West/USPORTS all time kills record surpassing TRU alum Brad Gunter) had  24 kills in 52 swings with 12 digs and five block assists.  Mounter had 15 kills in 27 swings.  Dobbert was 25 for 59 with nine digs and four block assists. Bringloe had 12 kills in 32 swings with four service aces and Napolitano had 4 service aces.

The two teams met last at Mount Royal on January 5 and 6^th, 2019.  TRU won the first night 3-1 (25-19,21-25,25-17,25-21).  The Cougars took game two 3-1 (25-13,15-19,20-25,25-14).
 
PLAYERS TO WATCH:

TRU:

Landon Currie (3^rd year, libero, Vernon, BC):  leads the Canada West in digs with 126 and is third in digs per set  at 2.17 and fifth in Canada West in digs per set (2.13).
Anton Napolitano (4^th year, setter, Victoria, AUS) is third in Canada West in digs with 104. He leads the team in service aces with 18 and tied with Kyle Behiels (5^th year, middle, Edmonton, AB) for second on the team in total blocks with 29.
Sam Taylor Parks (5^th year, middle, Kelowna, BC): fifth in Canada West in blocks per set (1.05) is second on the team in kills (105), third in service aces (12) and leads the team in total blocks with 51 (44 block assists).  He currently holds the season record for blocks in four sets (8-five solo blocks, three block assists vs Winnipeg on January 3, 2020).
Charlie Bringloe (5^th year, outside hitter, Waterloo,ON) leads the team in kills (144) and second on the team in service aces (16)
Nimo Benne (1^st year, outside hitter, Castricum, Netherlands):  third on the team in kills with 100. second in Canada West in kills (36) and kills per set (4.50).  He currently has the season record for most kills in a match (30 in five sets vs Winnipeg, January 4, 2020), total attempts (59 in that Winnipeg match), and digs in four sets (19 vs Manitoba January 10, 2020).

Mount Royal:

Trent Mounter (5^th  year, outside hitter, Perth, AUS): leads the Cougars with 153 kills and is second on the team with 74 digs
Luis Lange (2^nd year, middle, Calgary, AB): leads the team in blocks with 26 (22 block assists), and is third in kills (86)
Keal Prince (3^rd year, setter, Calgary, AB): the Vancouver Island University transfer leads the Cougars with 16 service aces and is third in digs with 56.
Chris Byam (1^st year, outside hitter, Bow Island, AB) is second on Mount Royal with 92 kills and is tied for second in service aces with 14.
Matt Saly (5^th year, outside hitter, Calgary, AB): tied for second in service aces with 14.


COMMENTS OF WOLFPACK COACH PAT HENNELLY:

https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1217626381690867717 
 
COMMENTS OF WOLFPACK OUTSIDE HITTER BRODY KOPEC (1^ST YEAR, RED DEER, AB): 

https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1217626235301326848 
 
COMMENTS OF WOLFPACK SETTER ANTON NAPOLITANO (4^TH YEAR, VICTORIA, AUS):
 
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1217626308919738368 
 
This weekend's matches can been seen on a pay per view basis on Canada West TV  presented by Co-op by accessing: https://cw.yaretv.com/.   Results will be available on the WolfPack social media platforms and their website  www.goWolfPack.ca.

The WolfPack are back home next weekend (Jan 24-25) when they entertain the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat at the Tournament Capital Centre.