KAMLOOPS – They pushed them to the absolute brink, but the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women’s volleyball team came up just short in their upset bid, falling 3-2 (25-20, 23-25, 28-26, 25-16, 15-8) to the U SPORTS No. 4 ranked Mount Royal Cougars.
TRU took the both the second and third sets and found themselves just one set away from their second victory over an opponent ranked in the U SPORTS Top 10 this season, before the Cougars rallied in the fourth and fifth frames.
Second-year outside hitter Kate Lamothe was electric on the night, finishing with a team-high 18 kills and hitting .351 per cent in the game. Erin Mutch and Brooklyn Olfert both tallied 11 kills and Abby Spratt continued her outstanding season with 35 assists.
Haley Roe cracked 20 kills for MRU followed by Nyadholi Thokbuom with 13 and Madison Marshall with 10.
The Cougars started the night with a five-point victory in the opening set before the WolfPack found their feet.
Two kills from Brooklyn Olfert and a block from Mutch and Faith Christensen powered the ‘Pack to an early 6-2 lead in the second set. MRU fought all the way back to take a 22-21 lead but a kill from Lamothe and strong defence from the ‘Pack saw them claim four of the final five points to win it 25-23.
Late set dramatics powered the WolfPack to victory in the third set. MRU held a set point at 25-24 but back-to-back kills from Olfert combined with a kill from McNaught allowed the ‘Pack to eke out the 28-26 win after a setting error from the Cougars.
After the Cougars dominated the fourth set, they were able to ride an early lead to victory in the all-important fifth set.
MRU jumped out to a 10-5 lead and although the ‘Pack rallied with kills from Olfert and Mutch they were unable to close the deficit before falling 15-8.
TRU will get their second chance at pulling off the upset tomorrow in Calgary when these two teams play at 4 p.m. PT.