KAMLOOPS - The Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's volleyball team earned the first Canada West playoff victory inside the Tournament Capital Centre in program history Thursday night, picking up a wild 3-2 (25-22, 13-25, 25-16, 20-25, 15-8) victory over the Manitoba Bisons.
In a match full of momentum swings, the WolfPack were able to outlast the defending U SPORTS national champion Bisons to take the first game in the best-of-three quarter-final series.
"It's not always pretty, sometimes you just have to hang on a little longer than the other team and we were able to do that tonight," said WolfPack head coach
Chad Grimm. "At times it was a good brand of volleyball on our side but at other times it was a little bit nervous and scrambly. The game had its peaks and valleys for sure, but we managed to find a way at the end."
Maria Dancheva led the way for the WolfPack with 13 kills and five block assists on the night. The product of Bulgaria was a consistent scoring threat throughout the night for TRU.
"Our wing hitters struggled tonight offensively so we needed to find offence somewhere," said Grimm. "There were rotations I had Maria hitting left side, right side or anywhere I thought we could get her the ball. She brought energy and aggression and I was happy to see that from her tonight."
Hail Ward added 11 kills while
Libby Meldrum tallied 43 assists and four service aces.
Two-time reigning U SPORTS Player of the Year Raya Surinx powered the Bisons with 17 kills and a trio of aces on the night. Fourth-year middle Aviendah Plett had an extremely efficient 11 kills on 17 attacks while rookie setter Julia Martens set a new career-high with 45 assists.
A back-and-forth affair came down to the fifth and final set. Buoyed by a boisterous home crowd of well over 1200, the 'Pack took the first four points of the fifth thanks to a kill from
Rida Erlalelitepe and three-straight Bisons errors. The visitors refused to go away, as Plett tallied a pair of kills to help Manitoba score five of the set's next eight points to cut the WolfPack lead to 7-5. That was as close as the Bisons would come however as both
Keira Gent and Dancheva recorded a service ace and a kill down the stretch to send the 'Pack to the 15-8 win.
Neither team was able to hold momentum for long in the match. After TRU claimed a close first set 25-22, the Bisons responded in a big way in the second. Plett powered Manitoba with four kills in a second set that saw the visitors turn what was a tight 10-10 frame into a dominant 25-13 victory. The WolfPack returned the favour in the third, holding Manitoba to hitting just .023 per cent as a team en route to a commanding 25-16 win. The Bisons responded in the fourth with a 25-20 to set up the all-important fifth and final frame.
A major difference in the night came at the service where TRU fired in nine aces and made just seven errors compared to the Bisons' marks of five aces and 12 errors.
The playoff victory was the first for the WolfPack since the 2019-20 season and came in front of by far the largest crowd of the season inside the TCC.
"The energy was great and it was fun to see the student section, fun to see the stands full and fun to see people that hadn't been to a game for a long time, or maybe hadn't ever been to a game, to come out and share their enjoyment of the atmosphere," said Grimm. "Credit to the whole city because it makes it fun for everybody."
These two teams will be back to battle tomorrow night in Kamloops. The WolfPack will be looking to clinch the series and advance to the Canada West Final Four while Manitoba will by trying to force game three. That game gets underway at 6:00 p.m. inside the TCC Gym and tickets can be bought at the gate.
