Golding and Ibbetson hit efficiently but Dinos defeat WolfPack

KAMLOOPS – The Thompson Rivers WolfPack men’s volleyball team couldn’t complete the sweep on the road as they fell 3-1 (25-23, 25-23, 21-25, 25-22) to the Calgary Dinos in Calgary.
 
“We came out a bit flat and credit to Calgary, they were focused and played intense playoff-style defence,” said WolfPack head coach Pat Hennelly. “Proud of the guy’s effort on the road and we are all looking forward to a break and our trip to Arizona.
 
The game was the final one of the first semester for a WolfPack team that heads into the winter break with a record of 6-6 and holds seventh place in the ultra-competitive Canada West conference.

Sam Flowerday led the way with 15 kills. Rookie Archie Golding was good on 11 of his 17 swings and Rylan Ibbetson buried 11 of his 22 attempts to hit .471 and .364 per cent respectively. Sam Elgert racked up 25 assists while middles Michael Svab and Corbin Ockerman had four blocks apiece.

The two teams picked up right where they left off Friday, trading punches the entire first set. A Thundersky Walkingbear kill gave the WolfPack a 22-21 lead late, but three-straight points from Calgary allowed them to retake the lead en route to the 25-23 victory.

The Dinos would go on to win the second set with an identical score as the first, 25-23. An ace from Flowerday gave the ‘Pack a 22-20 edge but again the Dinos went on a run late to squeak out the victory.

TRU erased a 19-18 deficit in the third set thanks to five-straight points before finishing off the set with a block by Flowerday and Svab to take the 25-21 victory.

The Dinos and the WolfPack traded blows throughout the fourth set, seeing the Dinos up 23-21 late. A huge kill from Lincoln Baines pushed things to set point, before Calgary closed out the big home win.