The Volleyball gods continue to frown upon the Thompson Rivers University men’s team as the WolfPack drop their third straight match on Saturday (October 25) at the Tournament Capital Centre.
Thompson Rivers lost 3-2 to the visiting University of British Columbia Thunderbirds. The scores were 24-26, 31-29, 25-19, 28-26, and 18-16. TRU is winless in six starts while UBC moves to 5-1 on the season.
"It was a good game against a tough team," said WolfPack head coach Pat Hennelly. "It was a two point match. We are competing well. Today was much better than yesterday in the fifth set. It is tough. We have spent a lot energy today and climbed a huge mountain. We weren't rewarded."
Hennelly continued: "I wish this effort was here against Trinity and Calgary. We would have a W in the column. We are doing the right things right now. We played close to our best volleyball in this one and lost a two setter to what I think is a very good team. The message is that we have to keep this going and keep competing. We can't worry about results now. It is easy to panic but the last few matches we have gotten better and that is what you want as a coach."
"It is kind of blur right now - the heat of the moment," explained UBC head coach Richard Schick. "We are trying to get our guys to live in the moment. Kind of like (TRU women's head coach) Chad Grimm's quote from Friday. You gotta discard the not so good stuff as quickly as possible but you can't enjoy the good for too long either. You have to concentrate on the present. I thought Thompson Rivers played well. They had a good game plan and served the ball tough. Serve/receive is so key."
The match's top offensive player was Casey Knight (fifth year, outside hitter, Salt Spring Island, BC). He had 30 kills in 68 opportunities with 11 digs. It was his second strong match since returning to the lineup after twisting his ankle five weeks ago.
"I don't know how Casey is doing it," Hennelly explains. "He has to be exhausted. He hasn't even put in more than an hours' worth of practice. He is a fifth year guy and he is giving everything he has. Kevin Brechin (TRU's Athletic Therapist) and the medical staff is keeping him on the court. It is nice to see. He put in a gutsy effort."
Daniel Eikland Rod (third year, middle, Oz, Norway) had 12 kills in 36 chances with two assists, a service ace, six digs and three block assists.
Graham Stoliker (fourth year, setter, Surrey, BC) was named the TRU Bookstore/McDonalds Leader of the Pack Player of the Match. He had 53 assists, 14 digs, a service ace and four block assists. "I thought he did a great job distributing the ball," the WolfPack coach said. "A lot of pressure on Graham this year and he has big shoes to fill (referring to the graduation of Colin Carson of Prince George, BC who was a Canada West all-star). We have high expectations and he is really starting to come around and take care of the ball when he is serving. He took care of things on defense."
UBC had four players in double figures attack-wise led by Mac McNicol (third year, outside hitter, Calgary, AB) with 16 in 35 chances with five digs, two solo blocks and four block assists. Ben Chow (fourth year, outside hitter, Surrey, BC) and Irvan Brar (second year, outside hitter, Surrey, BC) each had 14 kills while Alex Russell (fourth year, middle, Surrey, BC) chipped in with 11. Chow had a team high 13 digs.
Milan Nikic (fourth year, setter, Calgary, AB) had 45 assists.
Schick says the sweep over TRU was key in the very tight Canada West: "It is massive. When you look at both these teams on paper coming in, with TRU being winless and us being at 3-1 you would think one team would come in and get out of here with a couple of easy wins. But the Canada West isn't like that. There is a lot of good teams and a lot of good players. Obviously with Casey Knight getting back for these guys and having Brad Gunter (CIS Player of the Year) still out it provided a different dynamic for them and for us. They switched up their lineup and they have a lot of different guys who can play a lot of different roles. They take a lot of pride in that and so do we on our side."
The WolfPack continue their home stand with two matches (October
31 and November 1) at the Tournament Capital Centre against the
University of Regina Cougars. UBC returns home to
entertain the UBCO Heat next weekend.
SIDE OUTS: Before the match, as part of TRU Alumni night the team honored former outside hitter Robin Schoebel. Schoebel was a Canada West and CIS all-star and one of the first international players to attend Thompson Rivers.