David Larkins / Wesmen Athletics

TRUW TRUW 3-8

WPGW WPGW 5-8

TRUW TRUW

3-8

Final

Jan. 05, 2024

WPGW WPGW

5-8

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	5	F
TRUW TRUW	26	23	22	26	15	(3)
WPGW WPGW	24	25	25	24	13	(2)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 1/6/2024 12:26:00 AM | TRU WolfPack

Five set victory for ‘Pack over Wesmen

Next Match:

at Winnipeg

1/6/2024 | 4:45 PM

Full Schedule

Jan. 06 (Sat) / 4:45 PM

at Winnipeg

History

QUICK FIRE

The Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's volleyball team started the 2024 portion of their season off with a bang in a 3-1 (26-24, 23-25, 22-25, 26-24, 15-13) victory over the Winnipeg Wesmen in Winnipeg.

DIFFERENCE MAKERS

The WolfPack received essential contributions from throughout their entire lineup. Brooklyn Olfert (24 kills, three aces) and Ema Palkovicova (21 kills) provided the offence, Faith Christensen (six blocks), Libby Meldrum (five blocks) and Olivia Andulajevic (15 digs) led the way defensively while Meldrum also racked up an incredible 59 assists.
Jaya Dzikowicz had a team-high 21 kills for Winnipeg while Brooke Duncalfe had 14 kills to go along with 22 digs.
In what was an incredibly close match, TRU's edge of 8-4 in service aces proved to be vital.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Hitting .310 per cent as a team in the first set, TRU managed to eke out a 26-24 set victory. Winnipeg held set point at 24-22 before a Palkovicova kill put middle Addison Witkowski at the service line. The second-year from Medicine Hat helped TRU pick up three-straight points and finished the set with an ace.
After Winnipeg won both the second and third sets by close scores of 25-23 and 25-22, the 'Pack were able to keep the match going in the fourth. Trailing 14-8, TRU went on a 9-3 run during which Olfert, Palkovicova and Keira Gent each had three kills to knot things up at 17-17. The teams traded points to 24-24 before back-to-back kills from Palkovicova and Olfert sent the game to a fifth and final set.
In the fifth it was again Winnipeg jumping out to an early lead before the 'Pack fought back. The hosts held a 9-5 edge before Olfert put together a game-changing service run. In a return to her hometown of Winnipeg, Olfert sparked a 6-0 spree that included a pair of aces to give TRU a 12-9 lead that they would never relinquish en route to the victory.

NOTABLE

Second-year setter Libby Meldrum set new career highs in assists (59), digs (9) and blocks (5).
Olfert's 24 kills was a new season-best and just one shy of her career high.
TRU moves to 3-8 on the season with the win while the Wesmen fall to 5-8.
The win gives TRU a slight edge in all-time CW competitions between the two programs at 15-14.

QUOTABLE – Chad Grimm, head coach

We didn't play our best volleyball ever - but we were resilient, stuck with it and were patient enough to hang in there all the way until we ended up winning.
It was a mature win, was nice to see them play until the last whistle. I thought that everyone that stepped on the court as well as the people supporting from the bench were instrumental
Brooklyn had a huge service run at the end of the game that helped a lot, Ema had a good, efficient night. Kate started well and then when Keira came in she was tough. We got some production from our middles and I thought Libby made some really nice decisions setting the ball, so overall it was a nice win on the road.

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