KAMLOOPS – Make it three wins in three days for the Thompson Rivers WolfPack men's volleyball team after they took care of business against the UFV Cascades in a 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 23-25, 25-21) victory.
"It was another gritty road win tonight," said WolfPack head coach
Pat Hennelly. "We faced a different lineup tonight and UFV played with a lot of defensive intensity. Mathew Hamilton had his first start of the semester and played some great volleyball."
Despite some tight set scores and a slight stumble in the fourth set, the WolfPack were in control of the match throughout. TRU outhit UFV .224% - .122% and held a service ace advantage of 10-3.
With the jam packed weekend slate of three straight games a number of youngsters on the WolfPack's roster took advantage of the opportunity for some extra playing time, including
Riley Brinnen,
Matthew Hamilton and
Maxim Turgeon.
Anton Napolitano and
Samuel Elgert led the 'Pack with nine kills apiece. Napolitano added three blocks, a pair of aces and 11 digs, while Elgert had a game-high 24 assists. Hamilton came off the bench and finished on 8-16 of his attacks and had a pair of timely kills. Turgeon and Brinnen were good for six and five kills respectively.
Thundersky Walkingbear finished the night with six kills, two aces and six digs and was the WolfPack's most consistent player over the weekend.
"We had a very good weekend from our veterans Elgert,
Kyle Taylor and Napolitano," said Hennelly. "This is a first for the program to play three in a row against the same team on the road. It was a nice end to our previous three road trips where we had some tough losses."
Caleb Kastelein and Eduardo Ferreira paced the Cascades with 14 and 11 kills.
After getting into a five point hole early in the first set the WolfPack went on a 4-0 run punctuated by a Napolitano tip shot to claw their way back into the set at 9-10. The teams traded points to 23-23 but a kill and then a massive solo block from Hamilton gave the WolfPack the 25-23 set victory.
The second set played out nearly identical to the first, with the teams knotted up at 18-18 before Napolitano took over. The fifth year from Australia had a kill and a block on back-to-back plays to help the 'Pack get some breathing room at 22-19. A pair of Cascades errors and a big swing from Elgert later and TRU took a strong hold of the game with a 2-0 set advantage.
The WolfPack had their opportunities to complete the sweep in the third set but stumbled late in the frame. TRU led 22-19 but the Cascades went on a 6-1 run to end the set and force a fourth.
That Cascades momentum carried over to the early portion of the fourth set and the WolfPack trailed 18-13 before finding their feet. Buoyed by a big ace from rookie
Rylan Ibbetson, the 'Pack went on a 5-1 run to cut the lead to 19-18. A strong serving run from rookie
Mason Sodaro gave the WolfPack their first lead of the set at 21-20 and an ace from Sodaro put them in control of the set at 23-20. A Hamilton kill and an error from the Cascades finished off the set with the WolfPack taking 3-1 match victory.
"Overall our block and defence is much improved from the first semester and a lot of credit has to go to assistant coach
Casey Knight, he is our defensive coordinator and in charge of the scouting plans," said Hennelly.
The two teams will be back in action this coming Wednesday as they wrap up their season series in Kamloops. The game will get underway at 5 p.m. and will kick of a string of three home games in four days for the 'Pack.
