Offensive struggles doom ‘Pack in loss to T-Birds

KAMLOOPS – The Thompson Rivers WolfPack women’s volleyball team were close in all three sets but couldn’t pull out a victory in a 3-0 (25-23, 25-20, 25-21) loss to the host UBC Thunderbirds Friday night in Vancouver.
 
“We did quite a few things well on the defensive side of the ball, we were decent in scramble situations and our coverage was good,” said WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm. “For the most part we were disciplined in our base defence but unfortunately we just couldn’t find ways to score the ball, I thought offensively we struggled to find edges, were tentative in good hitting situations and made errors in situations when we needed to make them play the ball.”
 
Ema Palkovicova led TRU with seven kills, two aces, and five digs, while Kate Lamothe had four kills and four digs in her first action of the season. Libby Meldrum had 14 assists in the hard-fought loss.
 
Fourth-year outside hitter Katarina Pantovic had a team-high 13 kills for the T-Birds with a .500 hitting percentage, Lucy Borowski put up six kills, seven digs, and two service aces while Issy Robertshaw and Akash Grewal added three aces each.
   
The teams traded points early in the first set before a Pantovic kill, a TRU attacking error, and a huge block by Emma Doyon forced the WolfPack into a timeout at 8-3 UBC. TRU lessened the gap to two after Palkovicova smashed a kill to make it 13-11 UBC, but the ‘Birds pulled ahead again powered by a scrappy Borowski shoulder dig and a service ace. Claire Cossarini put up a block to earn UBC the set point at 24-19. A pair of kills by Palkovicova and Lamothe brought the WolfPack back into contention before UBC took the set off a Doyon kill at 25-23.
 
The second set saw a thrilling rally end in favour of the WolfPack, giving the team momentum to build a 11-7 lead thanks to a massive solo block from Brooklyn Olfert. A Borowski hit down the line and Robertshaw service ace brought UBC back within a point of TRU before Grewal levelled the score at 12-all with an ace. Back-to-back kills by Trinity Solecki gave UBC the 22-18 advantage and Cossarini took the set home at 25-20 with a kill from the middle.
 
The ‘Birds jumped out to an early lead in the third at 13-6 and reached the 20 point mark first, but the visitors responded by narrowing their deficit to just three points. Despite well-earned points by Lamothe, Palkovicova, and Keira Gent, the effort was not enough to catch the hosts. UBC took the set 25-21 off a Thompson Rivers service error to take the match in three straight sets.
  
“We kept ourselves in the match through a combination of their errors and also us being able to extend rallies, but we just have to find a better way to score the ball,” said Grimm.
 
The T-Birds and WolfPack return to War Memorial Gym for a rematch on Saturday at 5:00 p.m.