KAMLOOPS – After finding themselves in a big hole early the Thompson Rivers WolfPack men’s volleyball team fought all the way back to take the 3-2 (17-25, 23-25, 25-23, 25-20, 15-10) victory over the Fraser Valley Cascades in Abbotsford.
“It was a great comeback tonight,” said WolfPack head coach Pat Hennelly. “I count this as one of the better road wins I’ve been a part of.”
Sam Flowerday led the WolfPack in kills with eight. Thundersky Walkingbear had a complete game for the ‘Pack, getting six kills on his 15 swings while also hitting a trio of service aces, recording a trio of blocks and making eight digs. Michael Svab, Samuel Elgert and Riley Brinnen all added six kills apiece with the rookie Brinnen taking just seven swings to do so.
Fifth year Anton Napolitano made a little history in the game. With his three service aces in the game the product of Melbourne, AUS moved into the top 20 in Canada West history with 97 career regular season aces.
Nimo Benne cracked double digits in kills for the Cascades with 15, while Jonas Van Huizen had a game-high 36 assists.
The WolfPack defence was a major factor in the turnaround. As a team TRU compiled 12 blocks to the Cascades 5, while also racking up 48 digs in the contest.
After a first set that saw the WolfPack struggle to put anything together, the turnaround came in the second frame. Despite losing the second set 25-23, a trio of aces from Napolitano and some timely blocks gave the ‘Pack momentum moving forward.
The WolfPack were able to stave off defeat in a back-and-forth third set. Walkingbear had a pair of massive digs late in the set and Riley Brinnen had a pair of timely kills as the WolfPack pulled out the 25-23 set victory in one that could have gone either team’s way.
TRU got stronger as the night went on and that dominance began to show in the fourth set. The ‘Pack jumped out to a 16-11 lead and while the Cascades tried to mount a comeback late, an ace from Turgeon put the set away and sent things to a fifth and final frame.
“We really settled down and controlled the backcourt,” said Hennelly on what spurred his team to the comeback. “As a team we got better at blocking defensive and serving as the match went on. I am very proud of this group of athletes, the young players have really worked hard and bought into our team culture.”
The WolfPack saved their best for last and were unstoppable in the fifth. The team outhit the Cascades .400% – .062% and had four blocks in the frame to run away with the victory. Napolitano had the final kill in the contest to help lead his team to the win.
The win was the second in a row for the ‘Pack over the Cascades and moved them to 3-7 on the season. The result increases the WolfPack’s hold on both fourth place in the West Division and the all-important wildcard berth into the playoffs.
These same teams will play again tomorrow morning in what will be a rare triple-header of Canada West volleyball. The game in Abbotsford with get underway at 3 p.m. and can be watched live on canadawest.tv.