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Sports

WolfPack volleyball close out regular season

Coleman Molnar - Omega Contributor

The Thompson Rivers University men’s and women’s volleyball teams squared off against the Trinity Western University Spartans at the Tournament Capital Centre on Friday and Saturday night.

The men’s team came out on top of Friday night’s match up. The match, which went to five sets, was one of momentum swings, big blocks, textbook digs and vocal fans.

“It was just kind of up and down on both sides of the court,” said Wolfpack assistant coach Chad Grimm. “When it came down to the fifth set we played pretty good and managed to pull it out for a win on the night.”

Behlul Yavasgel provided some nice blocks in the middle while Gord Perrin and Robin Schoebel, as well as rookie Kevin Tillie, scored some big kills from the outside. TRU took the first set 25-21 on a TWU service error.

The Spartans won the second set 25-22 with left side player Steven Marshall scoring the majority of their points.

The Spartans came out hard in the third set, gaining an early lead, but the Wolfpack was able to fight back, helped by a big block by Perrin and Schoebel to put them up 13-10. The Wolfpack took the set 25-20.

During the fourth set, the Spartans were able to gain the advantage early and this time hold onto it, winning 25-19 and sending the match to a fifth and final set.

Once again, the Spartans were quick out of the gates, but were unable to hold off the hungry pack. Fourth year libero Kyle Donnen had a huge dig for the Wolfpack to put them up 12-9. Perrin sealed the deal with a kill to finish the set 15-11, winning the night for the 'Pack.

Saturday night’s match saw the men’s team fall to the visiting Spartans three sets to one.
“We just couldn’t get kills,” said Grimm. “They had a good defensive night. They picked up a lot of balls that Gord was hitting.”

The Spartans won the first two sets 25-23 and 30-28. The Pack won the third set 25-22, but lost the fourth and final set 25-22.

“They played way better on Saturday night,” said Yavasgel. “We couldn’t receive like we did on Friday—they were serving way harder and passing better.”

Perrin and Tillie lead the Pack with 33 kills each on the weekend.Schoebel contributed 23 kills and Yavasgel had 16.

However, the women fell three sets to zero both nights against the visiting Spartans. Friday night’s match saw the Wolfpack lose 25-18, 25-18 and 25-19 to the Spartans. Similarly, on Saturday night, the ladies were beat 25-15, 25-11 and 25-17.

Wolfpack members Anna Dyakiewicz and Ashley Koehn lead the Pack in kills for the weekend with 17 and 14 respectively, while Spartan player Kara Jansenvandoorn scored 25.

Sports Editor’s note: The women finish their season at 1-19, last place in Canada West. Hitter/libero Ashley Shannik and setter Lindsay Niminiken played their last games as WolfPack players, as they have played out their five years of eligibility.

We’ll check this offseason for newer recruits and see which areas Wohlford will address if he stays on.

As for the men, Behlul Yavasgel was honoured before the Friday game, becoming the first WolfPack athlete to play all five seasons as a C.I.S. athlete here, but his season is not over. Splitting the series with Trinity means that the WolfPack will face Brandon on the road in the playoffs on February 26 and 27, and 28th if necessary. They defeated Brandon twice this year, once in three sets, and once in five, but both of those games were at home. These games should intensify the rivalry between the two teams.

Also in playoff action, Calgary will host Manitoba, who defeated them twice as well this season at home, three games to none and three games to one, while Winnipeg will travel to Trinity West. Winnipeg won both games between those teams in five sets, but again, those games were at the University of Winnipeg.

Alberta gets the bye and will host the Canada West Final Four tournament between March 4 and 6. CIS Nationals will be held at the Tournament Capital Centre March 12 to 14.