KAMLOOPS – The Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's volleyball team won their first set of the season but couldn't pull out the match victory in a 3-1 (25-17, 25-27, 25-21, 25-20) loss at the hands of the UBC Okanagan Cascades.
 
In what was their best game of the young season, the WolfPack hit .252 per cent as a team. While they did a better job of slowing down a potent Heat attack, the visitors from Kelowna finished on .313 per cent of their attacks while also racking up 13 service aces.
 
It was an extremely balanced attack for the WolfPack on the night. Erin Mutch had a team high 10 kills with both Brooklyn Olfert and Seray Altay adding nine. Anastasiia Muzyka directed the offence to the tune of 31 assists to go along with her three service aces.
 
Amaya Perry racked up 16 kills for the Heat. Madelyn Hettinga added 13 on her 17 attacks to finish with a ridiculous .765 hitting percentage and Jade Bussard had four aces.
 
In a first set that was close early, the Heat managed to pull away late for the comfortable 25-17 win. The visitors went on a four-point run from 17-14 to 21-14 sparked by a kill and an ace from Bussard.
 
The second frame was a set of runs.
 
Muzyka took over at the service line with the game tied 9-9 and after a pair of aces and some UBCO errors, the WolfPack led 15-10. The Heat battled back to go on an 8-2 run of their own highlighted by a pair of kills from Hettinga to take an 18-16 lead. With the teams trading points all the way to 25-25, rookie Hadley Schmidt stepped to the line and after a UBCO error the product of Warman, SK ended the set with an ace.
 
UBCO took over the third set late. Leading by one at 19-18, the visitors would go on to score six of the next nine points led by a pair of kills from Perry.
 
The Heat put away the game in the fourth set thanks in large part to hitting .400 per cent as a team, while also taking advantage of six service errors from the WolfPack.
 
Both of these teams will have next weekend off. The 'Pack will next be in action on November 26-27 when they face the Fraser Valley Cascades in Abbotsford. The Heat will have to wait until December 3 for their next Canada West game when they welcome the UBC Thunderbirds to Kelowna.