Kamloops – After a shaky start the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women’s volleyball team fought back to make things close in a season-opening 3-0 (25-14, 25-21, 25-22) loss to the Alberta Pandas.
“I thought we came out a little tentative and nervous,” said WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm. “It was our first game of the season, and we are a fairly young crew and that got to us for sure in the first set. I thought we did a good job of coming back and there were stretches where we played to our potential and stretches where we let the game get away from us.”
With a roster that sees no players beyond their third year of eligibility, the WolfPack were in tough against an experience Pandas crew that was picked fourth in the CW Coaches Preseason Poll.
Brooklyn Olfert paced the ‘Pack’s attack with 10 kills and a pair of service aces while also registering the team’s lone solo block. Faith Christensen added six kills on nine attacks as the third year middle shone in a return to her hometown of Edmonton. Second-year libero Olivia Andulajevic led the way with 13 digs.
After a first set that was all Pandas, TRU was able to regroup in the second set, jumping out to a 14-12 lead behind a couple kills from Christensen. Alberta answered with a run of their own to take an 19-18 lead that they would never surrender en route to the 25-21 victory.
While the Pandas would jump to a 19-11 lead in the third set, TRU stormed back with a 10-3 run to make it a one-point game. It was the Pandas that were able to see the game out however taking the set and the match.
“I thought it was good that we never went away, even in the third set they found a way to grind it out on a night where things weren’t perfect by any stretch,” said Grimm.
“The rookies did a good job coming in. Keira played most of the game, Myah came in and contributed, Hailey came in and contributed so I thought that was great to see.”
The teams return to action tomorrow evening at 5:00 PM MST for their final regular season matchup of the year.