The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women's volleyball team is hoping that the Tournament Capital Centre will continue to be a happy home.

The WolfPack are entertaining their closest geographical rival: the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat this weekend in Canada West play. The Pack and Heat are going head-to-head at the TCC on Friday and Saturday (Jan 24-25).

Not only is bragging rights at stake but so too is Thompson Rivers defence of the "President's Cup".  The Cup is awarded to the winner of the regular season battles between TRU and UBCO in Canada West soccer, basketball, cross country and volleyball.

Heading into this weekend's play: Thompson Rivers is tied with UBCO.  Thompson Rivers has two wins (basketball and soccer), two losses (basketball and cross country) and a tie (soccer).
Canada West wise: Thompson Rivers is third in the overall standings (13-5). That is good enough for third place.  TRU is 7-2 at the Tournament Capital Centre this year and is 4-1 in their last five outings. Their split with Mount Royal last weekend have the WolfPack back in the U SPORTS top 10 rankings (at number 10).

The Heat are coming off being swept in straight sets on back to back nights by the league leading Trinity Western University Spartans.  Their 6-10 record has them in a tie for ninth place with the Calgary Dinos. 

UBCO is 1-7 on the road this year and have only one win in their last five overall matches

Last year, these teams closed out the Canada West regular season in Kelowna (Feb 15-16) with the WolfPack sweeping.  On the first night, the match went 3-2 (23-25,25-21,21-25,25-16,15-9.).
Kendra Finch (5^th year, outside hitter, North Vancouver, BC) had 19 kills in 40 swings. Olga Savenchuk  (2^nd year, outside hitter, Donetsk, Ukraine) had 14 kills in 31 chances.  Anastasiia Muzyka (3^rd year, setter, Poltawa, Ukraine) had 40 assists and six digs. Hali Drezet (4^th year, libero, Prince George, BC) had 18 digs.

The Heat were led by Sydney Grills (2^nd year, outside hitter, North Vancouver, BC)  with 22 kills in 39 chances with six digs.. Aidan Lea had 19 kills in 37 swings and four digs. Jade Brussard (2^nd year, left side, Red Deer, AB) had 13 kills in 34 opportunities and 17 digs.  Ann Richards had 11 kills in 34 chances with 10 digs. Natalie Livingston (3^rd year, outside hitter, Kelowna, BC) had 55 assists and 13 digs.

The next night (Feb 16, 2019). TRU won 3-1 (25-22,25-21,17-25,25-19). Savenchuk led with 13 kills in 35 opportunities with 18 digs.   Erin Mutch (2^nd year, outside hitter, Victoria, BC), Avery Pottle (4^th year, middle, Uxbridge, ON) and Finch all had 10 kills. Drezet had 18 digs.

For UBCO: Lea had 17 kills. Grills had 14 with Richards contributing 13.  Livingston had 41 assists, two service aces and 11 digs.

The Heat and WolfPack last played in Kamloops on February 10, 2018.  UBCO won in straight sets (25-16,26-24,25-10)
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Friday's contest will be the WolfPack's "You Can Play" night.  The team will wear special shirts in the warm up and there will be an informational table and a presentation for the Kamloops Pride Organization during the night.

Saturday's matches will be the TRU "Bell Let's Talk about mental health" night. Aside from a special informational table and booth set up where fans can write messages of positive mental health and post them on line (where Bell will donate to mental health organizations across the country), fans doing that will also get a blue " Bell Lets Talk About Mental Health" toque.

The matches this weekend will be played Friday at 6:45 PM PDT  and Saturday at 5 PM PDT.

They will be shown on a pay-per view basis on Canada West TV presented by Co-op.  You can access them 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 Friday's match.    TRU Sports Information Officer Larry Read will handle the call on Saturday. CFJC TV's Dylana Milobar  is the in game host both  matches.

Results will be available on the WolfPack social media platforms and their website  www.goWolfPack.ca.
 
 
 Players to Watch:

UBCO:

Amaya Perry (1^st year, outside hitter, Chin, AB)  is second in Canada West in service aces per set (0.65).
Hellen Lacava (2^nd year, outside hitter, Mandaguari, Brazil) leads the Heat with 188 kills and 157 digs.  She is second on the team with 26 service aces and in digs (157) and is third in total blocks  (27)
Natalie Livingston:  leads the Heat with 430 assists, is third with 151 digs and leads the team in total blocks with 66.
Claudia Corniel (5^th year, libero, Langley, BC) leads the Heat with 199 digs and is third in assists with 43.
Sadie Taylor Parks (3^rd year, middle, Kelowna, BC): the younger sister of WolfPack men's player Sam, she has played in 56 sets this year notching 43 kills, 16 service aces (fourth on the team) and 37 total blocks (second on the team)

Thompson Rivers:

Kendra Finch: is third in Canada West in kills (225) and is fifth in kills per set (3.36). She also leads the Pack in digs with 210.
Ksenya Kocyigit (1^st year, middle, Byeroza, Belarus):  leads the WolfPack in total blocks (73) and service aces (24).  She is third on the team in kills with 132.
 Muzyka : leads the team in assists with 388 and is third on the team in service aces with 21
Olga Savenchuk:  second on the Pack in kills (173)  and digs (160). She is third in total blocks (42)
Pottle: second on the team in total blocks with 44
Abby Spratt: (4^th year, setter, Calgary, AB): second on the team in assists (261) and is second on the team in service aces (22).
 
COMMENTS OF WOLFPACK ASSISTANT COACH SARAH LOEDEL (1^ST YEAR):

https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1220145786979119104  
 
COMMENTS OF WOLFPACK LIBERO KATIE LUDVIG (3^RD YEAR, KAMLOOPS, BC):

https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1220145907829620737
 
COMMENTS OF WOLFPACK MIDDLE LIZZY REIMER (2^ND YEAR, EDMONTON, AB):
 
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1220145878339485696