Strong start falters for ‘Pack in loss to Pandas

KAMLOOPS – They came out of the gates swinging but the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women’s volleyball team couldn’t keep up their torrid pace in a 3-0 (25-23, 25-12, 25-23) loss to the Alberta Pandas.
 
“We came out strong and did a good job of following the game plan,” said WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm. “We let them crawl back into it which was due to both them playing well and also us not having played with the lead much, so that was new for us and unfortunately we let that slip away.”
 
The 3-0 result was the second in a row between the two squads as Alberta was able to complete the weekend sweep.
 
Middle Faith Christensen was explosive for TRU as the Edmonton product finished the night with a team-high 11 kills on 16 attacks in addition to her three blocks defensively. Fellow middle Addison Witkowski also had a strong game for the ‘Pack with five kills on nine attempts. The hometown rookie Hailey Ward rounded out the top scorers for TRU with five kills in the contest.
 
“Overall we were a little more disciplined today, a little better,” said Grimm. “I thought our middles carried the load this weekend offensively. Faith definitely had her best weekend that I’ve seen her have with TRU, she was great. Addison rebounded nicely as well.”
 
TRU roared out of the gates in the first set, with a massive solo block from rookie Keira Gent putting an exclamation point on a lengthy WolfPack run that saw them lead 20-13. The Pandas, picked to finish fourth in the conference in the CW Coaches Preseason Poll, found an answer however and went on a marathon run of their own to make things tight. Christensen scored a big kill to consolidate the ‘Pack lead at 22-21 but from there it was all the home team as they took the set 25-23.
 
After a second set that was dominated by the Pandas, the third was once again a close affair. This time it was TRU’s turn to go on a comeback run as they fought off three-straight set points at 24-20 with kills from Brooklyn Olfert, Gent and an ace from Libby Meldrum making things close before Alberta was able to end it.
 
“In the third we showed some good grit and good fight,” said Grimm.
 
The ‘Pack will be back in action for their first home games of the 2023-24 campaign next weekend when they host the Calgary Dinos inside the TCC.