Resilient WolfPack earn sweep over Cougars

KAMLOOPS – The Thompson Rivers WolfPack women’s volleyball team kicked off 2023 with a weekend sweep over the Regina Cougars with a 3-1 (25-23, 22-25, 25-17, 25-20) victory inside the TCC.
 
The WolfPack were led by Brooklyn Olfert who had a game high 19 kills to go along with an ace and Eric Mutch who had 15 kills. TRU found success on the service line with an astounding 13 team aces. Abby Spratt, Kate Lamothe and Faith Christensen contributed three aces apiece.
 
Nya Chiek was a thorn in the side of the WolfPack for the Cougars, finishing the night with a team-high 13 kills and 3.5 blocks. Claire Sheppard and Jordy McEachern had seven kills respectively. The Cougars made their presence known at the net with 11 team blocks with Sheppard involved in eight.
 
The Cougars took their Friday night loss and used it as fuel to come out blazing in the first set. Using the momentum of a Bailey Balaberda serving streak, they jumped all the way out to a 10-1 lead. The Cougars were impenetrable at the net, finishing the set with four team blocks and forcing the WolfPack into 11 attack errors. The WolfPack managed to close the gap through five kills each from Mutch and Olfert before seven unanswered points gave the WolfPack their first lead of the set at set point; making no mistake, TRU went on to take the set 25-23 thanks to an ace from Spratt.
 
“We changed our defensive positioning which worked out really well and we just had to pick up our serve and pass game, that’s when the game turned in our favour,” said WolfPack head coach Behlul Yavasgel on his team’s turnaround.
 
Both teams traded point runs to keep the second set close. TRU went on a five-point run to find themselves leading at 12-9 but then Regina responded with six points of their own. Three points later, the Cougars would go on another five-point run to gain a 20-15 lead. Regina’s presence at the net was once again a force to be reckoned with, as they put down five blocks in the set. While the WolfPack would close the gap with with six kills from Olfert and a Kate Lamothe serving run that included an ace, the Cougars were able to see out the set to tie the game at 1-1.
 
The WolfPack started the third set flying. Sasha Haldane set the tone early with two huge kills to get the momentum going for the WolfPack. They built up a nine-point lead through five more kills from Olfert and four more from Mutch. The Cougars stayed in the set through Chiek who had six kills in the frame but the TRU attack proved to be too much as they took the 25-17 set victory.
 
Tied up at 6-6 in the fourth set, the WolfPack went on a seven-point run on the back of some strong serving from Abby Spratt. Regina clawed their way back within one-point, but the WolfPack took over the set with an 11-1 point run. It took the ‘Pack four set-points but they finished the night off with a kill from Haley McNaught.
 
With the loss Regina falls to 0-14 on the year. They will return to Saskatchewan and get set to host the Brandon Bobcats next weekend.
 
For TRU, they now hold a record of 7-7 on the season and are currently tied for the eighth and final Canada West playoff spot. The ‘Pack will get set to travel to Calgary for pair of games against the 8-5 Mount Roual Cougars.
 
“We will take this as a good start to the second half of the season and now we are going to build on it,” said Yavasgel. ” The team is just dedicated, before this weekend we knew that we needed two wins and we got that done and now immediately we begin preparing to go play a strong MRU team.”