By Larry Read
TRU Sports Information Officer
KAMLOOPS, BC—The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women's volleyball team has snapped a three match losing streak as they rolled to a straight set victory over the visiting University of Winnipeg Wesmen. The scores on the Warner Rentals court at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops, BC were 25-23,25-17, 25-15. They did it on a night that first year outside hitter Olga Savenchuk (Donetsk, Ukraine) set the 2018-19 Canada West record for kills and points in a three set match.
TRU moves to 2-5 on the season while the Wesmen fell to 2-5.
Savenchuk led the way with 23 kills. Kendra Finch (4th year, outside hitter, North Vancouver, BC) added seven kills while Abby Spratt (3rd year, setter, Calgary, AB) had 33 assists.
Savenchuk's 23 kills and 23.5 points set a new 2018-19 Canada West record for a three set victory.
The top offensive threat for the Wesmen was Emma Parker (2nd year, left side, St. Adolphe, MB) who had 10 kills.
SYNOPSIS
The teams started the first set exchanging points. TRU taking a lead as big as three at one point (13-10) and got to the technical time out first at 16-14 led by five kills from Olga Savenchuk. The WolfPack took the first set by two thanks to eight kills from Savenchuk in 14 swings.
The second set saw Abby Spratt serve her TRU squad to five straight points to take a commanding lead and they rolled to a 25-17 victory. Savenchuk had 8 more kills in that second frame. Jessica Friesen had four kills for the Wesmen in the second set while Emma Parker added three kills.
The third set saw Savenchuk continue to lead the TRU offense as she had seven kills to lead TRU to the straight set win.
VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS:
KEY STATS:
TRU 25 25 25 ---3
Winnipeg 23 17 15 ---0
TRU
Olga Savenchuk: 23 kills in 40 swings, eight digs
Kendra Finch: 7 kills in 19 chances, eight digs
Avery Pottle: 3 kills in 11 swings, 3 block assists
Gabrielle Podloski: 3 kills in 12 swings, 2 digs, 1 solo block
Abby Spratt: 33 assists, 1 service ace, 4 digs, 1 solo block, 3 block assists
Winnipeg:
Emma Parker:10 kills in 30 opportunities, 15 digs, 1 block assist
Kalena: Schulz: 9 kills in 23 swings, 11 digs, 2 assists, 1 solo block, 2 block assists
Jessica Friesen: 6 digs in 13 chances, 1 service ace
Rylie Dickson: 25 assists, 3 digs, 1 service ace
RECORDS:
TRU: 1-5 Winnipeg 2-4
THEY SAID IT (post match quotes):
TRU head coach Chad Grimm:
On victory: "I thought we did a pretty good job of taking care of the ball and having them earn their points. I think the biggest thing for us was we focused on our jobs and didn't get that nervous look of what might happen. They made it close after we had some decent leads. I thought we responded to that."
On Macey Hogg being named Player of the Match: "Macie has been working hard. She came in and has improved the most since September. She is tall. She doesn't have a ton of muscle on her body. She has bene getting better. She has practiced hard and earned the start tonight. She hasn't travelled yet. I thought she did a great job and had some key serves. She has a good arm. She hits it nice and flat and she isn't too worried about where we are in the match, she goes back and hits her serve and did a great job."
COACHES POST GAME VIDEO INTERVIEW: click here
TRU Bookstore/McDonalds "Leader of the Pack" Macey Hogg (1st year, Terrace, BC):
On match: "We came really prepared. We watched a lot of video and were ready. I thought we were consistent the entire time. We weren't up and down."
HOGG'S POST GAME VIDEO INTERVIEW: click here
Wesmen head coach Diane Scott:
On match: " I didn't think we were very good at all. I don't understand why we might be nervous. We had nothing to lose coming into this match. We didn't follow a game plan. We looked tight and made too many unforced errors in that first set. That set could have been ours. We made seven hitting errors in the first set and that changes everything. We got behind early in the second and couldn't recover."
COACHES POST GAME VIDEO INTERVIEW: click here
UP NEXT:
The teams will battle it out again on the Warner Rentals court at the Tournament Capital Centre.
Tomorrow's match will be webcast on www.Canadawesttv beginning with the pregame show at 4:50 pm
OF NOTE: The "TRU Bookstore/McDonalds Leader of the Pack Player of the Match" was Hogg who had one kill in seen swings with two assists, three service aces and a dig.