Andrew Snucins

MRU Cougars MRU 8-13,8-13

TRU WolfPack TRU 8-12,8-12

MRU Cougars MRU

8-13,8-13

Final

Feb. 16, 2024

TRU WolfPack TRU

8-12,8-12

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	5	F
MRU Cougars MRU	23	25	27	14	7	(2)
TRU WolfPack TRU	25	22	25	25	15	(3)

Game Recap: Women's Volleyball | 2/16/2024 9:14:00 PM | TRU WolfPack

‘Pack find victory in five on Senior Night

Next Match:

Mount Royal

2/17/2024 | 3:00 PM

Full Schedule

Feb. 17 (Sat) / 3:00 PM

Mount Royal

History

QUICK FIRE

The Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's volleyball team kept their playoff hopes alive with a five-set 3-2 (25-23, 22-25, 25-27, 25-14, 15-7) victory over the MRU Cougars Friday night in the TCC.

DIFFERENCE MAKERS

Ema Palkovicova led the way for TRU with 20 kills on just 36 swings on the night as she started the final home weekend of her university career with a bang. Brooklyn Olfert added 17 kills of her own with Faith Christensen adding 10 of 15 swings through the middle. Libby Meldrum racked up 50 assists for the 'Pack.
Sydney Scatcherd was the lead of a three-pronged attack for MRU as she finished with 16 kills, while both Emma Boyd and Mya Morgan had 14.

HOW IT HAPPENED

TRU hit .500 per cent as a team en route to taking a tight first set. TRU led throughout much of the first frame before Witkowski finished off a wild rally that saw diving digs from both Faith Christensen and Palkovicova to give the hosts set point at 24-21. MRU managed to fight off a couple of those set points before an Olfert kill gave TRU the victory.
After Mount Royal took the second set 25-22, the visitors rallied to eke out an important victory in a tight second frame. After the teams traded points early, an ace from Palkovicova followed by a Christensen kill gave TRU the lead at 23-21. The Cougars refused to go away however and fought off a pair of set points before ending the set with a 27-25 win thanks to a Mya Morgan solo block.
TRU responded to win the fourth in dominant fashion. The WolfPack defence forced MRU into 10 attack errors while Olfert and Palkovicova both had three kills as TRU jumped out to an early 12-6 lead and never looked back en route to the 25-14 victory.
TRU kept that momentum going into the fifth and final set. A Brooklyn Olfert ace put the exclamation point on a 6-1 TRU run to start the set before a fitting end on senior night saw Palkovicova record the final two kills of the set.

NOTABLE

The WolfPack celebrated graduating athlete Ema Palkovicova at the end of the game.
The win was huge for TRU as they moved to 9-14 on the season where they are in a three-way tie for the final playoff spot in the conference. The 'Pack will need to win their final regular season match tomorrow night and then hope that results around the league fall their way.
Olfert hit 300 kills on the season during the match, becoming just the third player in the conference to do so this season,
Palkovicova's 20 kills were the second-most she's had in a game this season.

QUOTABLE - Head coach, Chad Grimm

"The first half of the match both teams were hitting at a really high rate and getting sideouts a little too easily so I knew at some point the well would dry up and that we needed to dial in our defence to slow them down a little bit."
"In the third set we had some chances to finish it off and we kind of let those go but I was happy with the way we responded to that. I think earlier in the season if we let one get away we would come out a little flat but we didn't do that – we came out firing in the fourth and the fifth so it was good to see them turn that around."
"Ema is a gamer, she brings the fire and is a competitor. Sometimes she drags us into the fight and I think she did that tonight. It was great for her to be able to finish the match like that."

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