KAMLOOPS – Buoyed by strong performances from their graduating players the Thompson Rivers WolfPack men’s volleyball wrapped up their regular season in a big way with a 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 25-22) victory over the visiting UBC Thunderbirds.
“We needed to come out with some consistency, senior night is always emotional and Anton and Kyle were such a big part of our program,” said WolfPack head coach Pat Hennelly. “We just felt that emotion last night. It’s nice to finish with a win and it’s always nice for the senior guys to finish off their career with a big win at home.”
Despite being the less efficient team in attack on the night, the WolfPack were able to pick up the victory thanks to racking up eight service aces and 17 blocks while also finding a way to win timely points at the end of close sets.
“I was just in the flow of the game, after last night I just wanted to enjoy the moment and I was in that flow state,” said Taylor. “That’s where you want to be as an athlete and I loved every minute of it.”
With UBC resting some key players with the Canada West playoffs right around the corner, Thunderbirds mainstay Cole Brandsma had 22 kills on his 41 swings to carry the torch for UBC. Duncan Clark added eight whole Gerard Murray had a pair of service aces. Zarley Zalusky racked up two solo blocks and four assisted blocks for the Thunderbirds.
In what will be the final home game of his storied WolfPack career Napolitano led the way for TRU in the first set with four kills. Brandsma had five kills on his nine swings but the WolfPack showed just a little more composure when it mattered most to take the 25-23 victory. With TRU leading 24-23 Flowerday finished things off with a massive swing.
UBC took their lone set victory of the night in the second.
Brandsma had six kills while both Murray and Clark added three as the Thunderbirds hit .387% as a team in the frame. Ockerman answered with four for the ‘Pack but a massive 21-14 Thunderbirds lead proved to be too much to overcome. Brandsma scored the final two points of the set for the T-Birds to lead the visitors to the 25-23 victory.
TRU refused to let the game slip away however and dominated the third set. Sam Flowerday had four kills and a block from Napolitano and Ockerman to make the score 18-11 put the set out of reach before the WolfPack eventually took it 25-19.
A massive pancake dig from Taylor was one of the turning points in the fourth set for TRU. With the set tied at 16-16 the Thunderbirds went on a three-point run powered by a block and a kill courtesy of Zalusky. With the set slipping away Taylor and the WolfPack defence found an answer.
“We just had that cohesion tonight, guys were playing for each other,” said Taylor. “There were points where we tapered off but we knew at the end of the day that what we had to do was focus on our side of the court and we executed and that’s all that mattered.”
The WolfPack ended the match on a 9-3 run during which Napolitano went on a four-point serving run to help lead the WolfPack to victory.
“Kyle was just doing his job and I think Anton was struggling a little bit emotionally but he battled, he had that great serving run at the end and showed why he’s one of the best servers in the league,” said Hennelly.
With their playoff fates already sealed heading into the weekend, the result today will see UBC finish the season with a 10-6 record while the WolfPack wrap up 2021-22 with a mark of 6-10.
UBC will head to Edmonton next weekend as the second seed from the West Division while the WolfPack will remain in B.C. after finishing fourth in the West. TRU will head to Langley where they will play in a pool with the Trinity Western Spartans, the Saskatchewan Huskies and the Mount Royal Cougars with the top two teams advancing.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login