KAMLOOPS – A complete team effort powered the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women’s volleyball team to their first victory of the 2021-22 season, as they knocked off the UBC Okanagan Heat by a score of 3-1 (27-25, 10-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-13).
In what was a rollercoaster of a match, a young WolfPack squad showed composure down the stretch to consistently battle back and fight for the victory.
Rookie Brooklyn Olfert led the WolfPack attack with 16 kills and a pair of service aces. Olfert came up big time and time again for the WolfPack, including scoring a pair of set winning points. Erin Mutch added nine kills while both Anastasiia Muzyka and Faith Christensen ended the night with four blocks.
Sydney Grills was electric for the Heat with 22 kills on 45 attacks with Madelyn Hettinga adding 12 kills on 18 attacks.
A big comeback effort powered the Wolfpack to victory in the first set. Trailing 20-16, rookie Koenn Sauer went to the service line and helped the WolfPack win the next three points. A kill from Olfert knotted the set up at 23-23 and then another from Olfert helped the ‘Pack take set point at 26-25. The rookie from Winnipeg then served out the set with an ace to give the WolfPack the 27-25 victory.
After a second set that was all UBCO, the WolfPack were able to respond in the third. A kill from Hayley McNaught sent TRU into the technical timeout leading 16-12. TRU hit .400 per cent as a team in the set and a dominant run of 9-5 to end the frame gave the WolfPack the 25-17 set victory.
An incredibly tight fourth set went the way of the Heat. The teams traded points throughout the early portions of the set before the Heat strung a run together to take a four-point lead at 20-16. Keyed by kills from Hadley Schmidt and Mutch the WolfPack made it close at 20-19 before the Heat pulled away for the 25-22 set victory to force a fifth and final frame.
The WolfPack made sure they did what they had to do in the fifth set to pick up the victory. After the teams traded points to 8-8, the WolfPack went on a 4-1 thanks in large part to back-to-back blocks from Muzyky and McNaught to lead 12-9. UBCO fought back to make the score 14-13 but a kill from Olfert put the match away.
Next up for the WolfPack is a trip to Abbotsford where they will face the Fraser Valley Cascades February 4-5.