Sam Flowerday
Andrew Snucins
0
MRU Cougars MRU 5-11,5-11
3
Winner TRU WolfPack TRU 4-12,4-12
MRU Cougars MRU
5-11,5-11
0
Final
3
TRU WolfPack TRU
4-12,4-12
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 F
MRU Cougars MRU 18 25 25 (0)
TRU WolfPack TRU 25 27 27 (3)

Game Recap: Men's Volleyball | | TRU WolfPack

Balanced attack leads ‘Pack to important win over Cougars

QUICK FIRE
  • The Thompson Rivers WolfPack men's volleyball team kept their postseason hopes alive in the TCC Friday night, securing a 3-0 (25-18, 27-25, 27-25) victory over the MRU Cougars.
 
DIFFERENCE MAKERS
  • Three WolfPack players hit double-digits in kills with Sam Flowerday, Matthew Hamilton and Rylan Ibbetson all starring for TRU. Flowerday and Hamilton both tallied a game-high 14 kills, with Flowerday adding a pair of service aces and Hamilton hitting .500 per cent in the game. Ibbetson came up with 13 kills of his own while also adding a pair of aces.
  • The Cougars had two of their own up in the double-digits tonight. Ryan John had a team-high 13 kills to go along with a block assist. Cody Hudson had 12 kills of his own to go along with his two block assists. Paul Dionne contributed six kills, five of which came in the second set, to go along with his nine digs.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
  • The WolfPack were all over MRU to start the night. Walker Sodaro directed the offence with 11 assists in the frame as the 'Pack reeled off two separate 4-0 runs to take a commanding 17-12 edge. MRU responded through five kills in the frame courtesy of John and four from Hudson but the visitors couldn't work their way back into the set as TRU took it 25-18.
  • The second set came right down to the wire. Dionne tallied three-straight kills early in the set to give MRU a quick 6-3 advantage. An Ibbetson ace paired with two kills from Flowerday tied the match back up at 9-9 and from there, there was almost nothing to separate the two teams. They traded points all the way to 22-22 before Hamilton and Ibbetson combined to give TRU the lead. The Cougars fought off a pair of set points but it was TRU that came up clutch as Flowerday ended the set at 27-25. John had ten kills in the set to keep the Cougars within touching distance.
  • The third set was a near carbon copy of the second. MRU embarked on a 6-0 run in the middle of the set punctuated by a pair of kills from John to give the Cougars a 10-7 lead. The WolfPack battled back to take their first lead since the beginning stages of the frame at 18-17. TRU ran that edge all the way out to 23-19 but MRU refused to go away. The Cougars scored five of the next six points to fight off multiple match points and tie the set at 24-24. Again it was TRU that found the critical edge late however and Flowerday ended the night with a blistering service ace.
 
NOTABLE
  • The win moves TRU to 5-12 on the season where they are tied with the Cougars. With just three games remaining on their schedule, TRU is hunting down a trio of teams with a record of 7-11 as they try to fight their way into the postseason picture.
  • The result was TRU's first 3-0 victory of the season.
  • With a pair of aces, Flowerday moves to 104 in his TRU career, he is just five behind program leader Brad Gunter.
 
QUOTABLE (WolfPack head coach, Pat Hennelly)
  • "I thought our guys came out to play. We got tight for some reason at really weird times, but I think the implications of tonight's game were weighing on both teams – we both knew that we had to win."
  • "We still have a modicum of control which is nice for as bad as our season has been, we have to win out. We needed that one, so job done first night."
  • "We are getting down to the end of their careers so we knew we really wanted to isolated Flowerday and Hamilton tonight. Hamilton came out and did a great job, front and back row he was excellent."
 
UP NEXT
  • These two teams will do battle again tomorrow afternoon inside the TCC in a match that starts at 3:00 p.m.
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