KAMLOOPS – A strong first set performance wasn’t enough to send the Thompson Rivers WolfPack men’s volleyball team to victory, as the host MacEwan Griffins roared back for the 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 26-24, 25-21) win in Edmonton.
The WolfPack fall to 8-12 on the year with the result and with just four games left to play in the regular season the battle for playoff positions is heating up. TRU is now locked in a tie with the Winnipeg Wesmen for the eighth and final Canada West postseason position after the Wesmen swept the Manitoba Bisons this weekend.
Sam Flowerday, among the conference leaders in kills, was again the focal point of the WolfPack offence with 18 kills while also racking up three solo blocks. Rylan Ibbetson continued his strong sophomore year with 16 kills while fifth-year middle Michael Svab finished the night with five kills and three service aces.
Alexei Walisser (14), Jefferson Morrow (13) and Mitch Gorman (12) all hit double-digit kills for the Griffins who moved to 3-17 on the season.
A tight first set swung the way of the ‘Pack thanks to a strong service run from Ethan Olfert, who finished the night with 40 assists. With the score tied at 22-22, Olfert served up an ace followed by rookie Brendon Lord coming up with big solo block to help TRU take the first set.
MacEwan ran out to a 21-16 lead in the second before the WolfPack mounted a comeback effort. TRU scored four-straight points with both Flowerday and Ibbetson pitching in with kills but the deficit was too much for TRU to rebound from as the Griffins took the second 25-21.
The third set went right down to the wire.
Back-to-back Flowerday kills late in the set gave TRU set-point at 24-23 but a resilient Griffins team was able to rattle off the next three-straight points en route to victory.
From there MacEwan was able to take the fourth set 25-21 and earn the sweep at home.
TRU will be back in action next weekend when they travel to Langley to face the Trinity Western Spartans.