KAMLOOPS - The TRU WolfPack Women's Volleyball team looked every part a program with its sights set on making noise on the national level, beating the Regina Cougars 3-0 (25-15, 25-13, 25-23) on Friday, October 30
th, 2026 in Kamloops BC. Coming into the weekend ranked 7
th in the most recent U SPORTS poll, Chad Grimm's team set the tone early and delighted the crowd at the Tournament Capital Centre, improving to 3-0 on the Canada West campaign.
After some early errors by both teams, TRU started to overpower the Cougars at the net, as Rida Erlalelitepe, Myah Cressy, and Hail Ward made good on their opportunities, allowing the WolfPack to go on a 13-6 run and grab control of the set. Eventually, they'd take the opening stanza 25-15.
Erlalelitepe started with the ball in her hand in the second set, rattling off five consecutive points to give the home team an immediate edge. The Cougars would climb back into the set, capitalizing on a number of TRU errors to knot it at 8-8, but the 'Pack settled down and proved why they were ranked number two in the Canada West preseason coaches' poll. The TCC was loud, and had reason to be, as the WolfPack rattled off ten consecutive points. Erlalelitepe continued her strong play, and Keira Gent was a thorn in the Regina side, while third-year Maria Dancheva strung together ten straight serves – many putting Regina's defense in difficult positions – to again help Thompson Rivers to seize a stranglehold on the set. Just minutes after it was deadlocked, the WolfPack were securing a 25-13 set.
The Cougars were valiant in the third set, led by Mila Marquart, who was set early and often for Regina. Anna Schultz contributed on her looks, and it was the visitors from Regina who led 14-10 midway through the third. The two programs would trade the lead, and control of momentum for much of the set, with the Pack struggling to shake off the pesky visitors. Eventually, at 24-23, it was a kill by Kamloops product Hail Ward that sealed the match, and securing a 3-0 victory.
The Pack were led by Gent and Erlalelitepe, who each had ten kills, while Ward added eight of her own. Rookie Amaya Friesen was efficient in her first career Canada West start, registering 29 assists over three sets. Anna Schultz had eight kills to lead Regina, while Joei Wilson had 24 assists.
QUOTABLE (WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm)
"I thought for the most part we were pretty solid, especially in the first two sets. I thought the third set was a combination of us letting our foot off the gas a little bit and Regina playing better defence. They dug a lot of balls in the third set and forced us into some errors. Overall, it was great."
"It was nice to see Amaya Friesen get out there as a first-year in our home-opener. I know it's probably not the easiest situation but I thought she did a great job, so I'm happy with her."
ON GETTING TO PLAY QUITE A FEW ROOKIES IN THE MATCH "Obviously we've seen them in practice but when the lights are on, you never really know how they are going to react but I thought everyone that came in did a good job. They executed to the best of their ability, they didn't let the moment get to them and that's important as we go through the season that we start to build some trust in players that they can go out there and do a job for the team."
"I think Amaya stood out, her coming in and being solid and running the offence the way she did was great. Obviously she has a veteran support staff out there to help her through those moments. I thought Maria Dancheva was solid – she served the ball well, helped direct traffic, didn't get too high or too low and just did her job so that was nice to see as well.
UP NEXT
With the victory, TRU moves to 3-0 on the season, while Regina remains winless at 0-3. The two teams clash again on Saturday at 4:45 PM inside the TCC.
