‘Pack start strong but fall to No. 1 T-Birds in three

VANCOUVER – They put a scare into the No. 1 ranked UBC Thunderbirds early but the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women’s volleyball team were unable to find a path to victory in a 3-0 (25-21, 25-17, 25-14) loss in Vancouver Saturday night.

“We started well but couldn’t find a way to finish the first set,” said WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm. “After that we struggled to score points, UBC defended well and we weren’t able to keep out patience and find offensive solutions.”
 
Brooklyn Olfert dominated at the net for TRU, with a team-high eight kills while teammate Madison Maichin contributed two service aces.
 
Fourth-year outside hitter Trinity Solecki led the ‘Birds in kills with eight, and a hitting percentage of 0.538, while both Claire Cossarini and Kartarina Pantovic added seven kills each.

The WolfPack started the first set strong, earning six-straight points from all parts of the court to force a UBC timeout. A dominant kill from UBC’s Cossarini after the timeout sparked an exchange of points with standout TRU outside hitter Ema Palkovicova also racking up a service ace and powerful kill. Cossarini answered once again for UBC by smashing a kill, swinging the momentum and shrinking a T-Bird point deficit. An Akash Grewal kill helped UBC reach their first lead of the game making it 22-21, and a final setpoint service ace from Elisabeth Lee earned UBC a 25-21 set win.

The second set looked to be an even battle with the WolfPack’s Keira Gent with an emphatic early kill, tying the game at 3-3, but from there it was all UBC as they jumped out to a 21-10 lead. In the latter half of the frame, a flurry of UBC errors and a pair of service aces by the Wolfpack’s Maichin led to a timeout from the hosts. The pause proved beneficial for, the ‘Birds who managed a 25-17 set win following a WolfPack attack error. 

UBC jumped out to an early lead in the third set with four straight points and didn’t look back as they pulled further away, aided by a continued Cossarini and Pantovic kill hot streak. A few glimmers of hope came from WolfPack outside hitter, Olfert, who racked up eight kills by the end of the third frame, but it was not enough, as a final kill by Danielle Price ended the match.

“We were able to hang in on serve reception against a tough serving team which was a positive sign,” said Grimm.

TRU will now return home to get set for a pair of home weekends to wrap up their first semester schedule. First up are the Manitoba Bisons next Friday and Saturday inside the TCC.