Andrew Snucins

Winnipeg Wesmen WPG 10-0,10-0

TRU WolfPack TRU 2-8,2-8

Winnipeg Wesmen WPG

10-0,10-0

Final

Jan. 10, 2025

TRU WolfPack TRU

2-8,2-8

Set Scores
Team	1	2	3	4	F
Winnipeg Wesmen WPG	25	19	21	20	(1)
TRU WolfPack TRU	20	25	25	25	(3)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball | 1/10/2025 10:20:00 PM | TRU WolfPack

WolfPack upset No. 2 ranked Wesmen on Flowerday’s big night

Next Match:

Winnipeg

1/11/2025 | 3 PM

Full Schedule

Jan. 11 (Sat) / 3 PM

Winnipeg

History

QUICK FIRE

Sam Flowerday continued to etch his name in the WolfPack record books and the Thompson Rivers WolfPack men's volleyball team earned a massive 3-1 (20-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-20) victory over the previously undefeated Winnipeg Wesmen Friday night in the TCC.

DIFFERENCE MAKERS

Flowerday recorded kill number 1,000 in his illustrious WolfPack career, crossing the milestone with a 17 kill match. Rylan Ibbetson and Matthew Hamilton both added five kills apiece. Tyson Koop recorded 31 assists while Mason Sodaro led the way with eight blocks in the contest.
Isaiah Olfert, second in the conference in kills entering the weekend, had a strong game with 19 kills to his name. Luke Lodewyks added eight while Jaxon Rose had six for Winnipeg.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After the Wesmen dominated the first set early, TRU rallied to make things tight. Winnipeg middle Paxton Koop was in on a pair of blocks to start the game as the Wesmen jumped out to an early 14-5 edge. The 'Pack responded with an 8-1 run of their own capped off by an ace courtesy of Mason Sodaro to cut the lead to just 15-13. That would be as close as TRU would come however, as four kills in the frame from Rose allowed the Wesmen to escape with the 25 to 20 victory.
The WolfPack evened things up in the second. Flowerday fired in five kills in the frame – including the monumental number 1,000 – to lead the 'Pack to the 25-20 victory. The turning point of the set came when Flowerday fired in back-to-back kills to start an 8-1 WolfPack run that allowed the hosts to gain a 20-14 advantage. Jakob Leinemann finished the set at 25-20 with a kill through the middle.
Flowerday kept that momentum rolling into the third, firing down the first four points of the frame. After the teams traded points throughout much of the set, the WolfPack found an answer late. Trailing 21-20, TRU scored the final five points of the set with Rylan Ibbetson book-ending the run with a pair of kills as the 'Pack took it 25-20.
The WolfPack ran away late to take the fourth set. A block from Mason Sodaro and Tyson Koop gave TRU their first multi-point lead of the match at 18-16 and from there the 'Pack were able to ride out the match en route to the 25-20 upset victory.

NOTABLE

Flowerday became just the second player in program history and 26th in Canada West history to break the 1,000 career kill match in the game. Flowerday trails only all-time great Brad Gunter in the TRU record books.
The win moves TRU to 3-8 on the season as they look to climb the standings and earn a spot in the Canada West playoffs. For the Wesmen, the defeat was their first of the season as they now hold a record of 10-1.

QUOTABLE (WolfPack head coach, Pat Hennelly)

"I'm going credit to Tyson Koop for coming in for us and being really stable. Our training camp in Turkey was all about our block, our serve and our defence – we worked on that for 11-straight days. That paid off for sure tonight, so it's great to see the guys invest that time and for it to pay off because we were really grinding over the holiday break."
We haven't seen that stability all year. There was a point in the fourth game where Winnipeg was closing the game back up the guys were just able to stabilize. Koop is getting blocks, Rylan Ibbetson is getting blocks and those are things that we need."
"We were all frustrated after the first semester and I think we just wanted to go out and play volleyball tonight. We didn't do a lot of talking, we just were businesslike. Flowerday has had that approach the entire time in Turkey, this is his last year and he wants to salvage the year. Matthew Hamilton went back in the third set and ripped off a couple serves that were huge so those are big moments from a couple guys that are in the last semester of their university volleyball careers."

UP NEXT