KAMLOOPS – After a first set that could not have been tighter went the way of the UBC Thunderbirds, the hosts were able to ride that momentum to a 3-0 (33-31, 25-18, 25-18 victory over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack men's volleyball team.
After a five-set marathon battle last night, there was little to split the teams in the first set again tonight.
Trailing 16-13 at the technical timeout, the WolfPack stormed back and grabbed a 22-19 lead off of a solo block from
Samuel Elgert. The Thunderbirds stormed back however, and gained the first set point at 24-23. After back-to-back blocks from frist Elgert and
Riley Brinnen and then Elgert and
Michael Svab, the WolfPack had a set point of their own at 25-24. TRU was unable to put it away though, and the two teams traded points all the way to 31-31. Cole Brandsma of UBC recorded back-to-back kills and the Thunderbirds claimed the all-important opening set. Elgert,
Sam Flowerday and
Thundersky Walkingbear all had three kills in that opening frame.
The wind seemed to go out of the WolfPack's sails a little after that disappointing start and while they kept things close the rest of the way, the Thunderbirds were able to claim both the second and third sets by identical scores of 25-18.
Elgert finished with a team-high eight kills as well as four blocks and eight assists.
Anton Napolitano added six kills and 12 assists.
"Elgert and Anton both attacked very well," said WolfPack head coach
Pat Hennelly. "Credit to UBC they had very stable passing and really started to get into an offensive flow. Overall, I'm happy with the effort and execution on our side when the ball was in play, it was a solid start to the second half of the season."
Matt Neaves and Gerard Murray both recorded 11 kills for the Thunderbirds.
The result moves the WolfPack to 1-5 on the year while the Thunderbirds are now 5-3.
The WolfPack will be back in action next weekend when they welcome the Fraser Valley Cascades to the Tournament Capital Centre January 21-22.
