KAMLOOPS – Playing in their first official match since the Canada West bronze medal game in 2020, a young Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's volleyball squad was unable to keep up with the perennial powerhouse Trinity Westerns Spartans in a 3-0 (25-16, 25-6, 25-17) loss.
 
Dealing with injuries to a couple veterans on a team that has 11 players in their first year of eligibility, the WolfPack fought throughout the match but couldn't match the reigning Canada West champion Spartans.
 
"It was definitely trial by fire, at some points we had five first-year athletes on the floor," said WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm. "In the preseason we've had similar lineups and we were able to compete, but when it was for real in a different gym the nerves definitely showed and it was hard for us to go out there and worry about controlling what we can control."
 
It was a balanced effort from the WolfPack on the night. Erin Mutch with five kills and six digs, rookie Brooklyn Olfert with four kills and Hayley McNaught with four kills all filled the stat sheet. Rookies Hadley Schmidt, 12 assists and a solo block, as well as Madi Maichin with four digs also impressed in their Canada West debuts.
 
"With Katie Ludvig going down – who is a big piece of our team – I thought Madi Maichin stepped in and did a pretty nice job back there at the libero spot," said Grimm on who impressed him on the night. "It was nice to see her come out and be able to put together a pretty good game."
 
The second match of this weekend double header will go tomorrow evening in Langley, with a scheduled start time of 4:00 p.m. That game can be watched live on canadawest.tv.