The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men's volleyball team got back into the win column on Friday night (Jan 24).  The WolfPack beat their closest geographical rival, the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat at the Tournament Capital Centre.

The Pack won their fourth of the year to go with 13 defeats as they beat the Heat in straight sets.  The scores were 25-17, 25-23, 25-14.

The Heat are winless in 15 straight starts.  Their last win, ironically came late last season as they hosted Thompson Rivers.

The victory also gave the WolfPack the lead in the UBCO-TRU series known as "The President's Cup".  Thompson Rivers has three victories (basketball, soccer and now volleyball), three losses (cross country and basketball) with the schools having one tie (soccer). The President's Cup for men will be decided tomorrow (Saturday Jan 25) night.

Nimo Benne (1^st year, outside hitter, Castricum, Netherlands) led offensively for TRU with 16 kills in 24 swings. Benne continues to make a strong pitch for Canada West rookie of the year.   He was named "The Den Leader of the Pack" player of the match.    Sam Taylor Parks (5^th year, middle, Kelowna, BC) and Charlie Bringloe (5^th year, outside hitter, Waterloo, ON) each had eight kills. Parks had 18 swings while Bringloe had 21.   Parks added three service aces and four block assits)  Samuel Elgert (2^nd year, setter, Athabasca, AB) had 31 assists.

For the Heat,  Teo Ardanaz (2^nd year, middle, Tsawwassen, BC)  and former TRU setter Denham O' Reilly (5^th year, Langley, BC) had seven kills a piece.  Ardanaz had seven kills in seven swings.
  O'Reilly with 24 opportunities. Another ex TRU player—Jakob Hamilton (3^rd  year, setter, Calgary, AB) had 19 assists and four digs.

This was TRU's 'You Can Play" game honoring the LGBTQ2S+ community.  There was a presentation to the 'Kamloops Pride" organization at half itme.
 
 SYNOPSIS

The WolfPack were down two early but they rallied and took the lead winning the first set 25-17 thanks to six points from Taylor Parks . Benne had five kills in eight swings.   had 11 assists in the set for TRU.

UBCO was led by  Ardanaz  with four kills in four attempts.  The Heat started both ex WolfPack setters: O'Reilly  and  Hamilton .  Kamloops native Owen Cotito (1^st year, setter), a Sa-hali grad also saw action in the contest.  Hamilton had five assists in that first set.

The Heat jumped to a 3-1 lead in the second set. But again, the WolfPack capitalized on some Heat errors to take a 9-6 lead. Thompson Rivers had a 10-7 advantage until UBCO went on a 7-0 run to tie things at 13 prompting TRU head coach Pat Hennelly to call a time out.  The Heat reached the tech time out first ahead 16-15.  Tied at 22,  Taylor Parks slammed the ball down into empty space on the UBCO side. That prompted the Pack to go on a run leading 24-22.  O'Reilly's kill put off the inevitable as the Pack took the set 25-23 courtesy of a Benne kill.  That was his 10^th of the match.  O'Reilly had six kills in the second set for UBCO.

That set win took the wind out of the Heat's sails.  The Pack jumped out to a 9-4 lead before UBCO coach Brad Hudson called a time out to try and spur on his squad.  The Pack led 16-9 at the tech time out. In the third set,  TRU's Cole Johnston (first year, middle, Prince George, BC) made his Canada West debut. His initial block left the court to make it 19-11.
 
 
 
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS: 
https://youtu.be/pfqdWhnYVzA
 
WHAT THE COACHES SAID:

TRU head coach Pat Hennelly (14^th season):
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1220949036502409216 
 
TRU outside hitter Nimo Benne (1^st year, Castricum, Netherlands):
 
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1220949016659103750 
 
UBCO head coach Brad Hudson (4^th season):
 
 
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1220949058044321792
 
 
 
UP NEXT:
The two teams will play again at the Tournament Capital Centre. Start time is 6:45 PM. It is the "Bell Lets Talk about Mental Health" awareness night.

After a bye week next week (Jan 31-Feb 1),  the WolfPack will visit Edmonton, Alberta for back to back matches with the MacEwan Griffins  on Feb 7-8.

All of the above games 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.