KAMLOOPS — The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack struggled at home for the first time in the young 2017-18 Canada West women’s volleyball season.
The Pack saw their record even at 2-2 after falling to the visiting Brandon University Bobcats for a second straight night.
After losing to Brandon Friday (Nov 3) in five sets, TRU was swept by the Bobcats in three straight. The scores were 25-20,25-18, 25-20.
The Bobcats opened the match by going on a 7-0 run in the first set and won it by five (25-20). Rayvin Weibe had four kills in the first set. While Yevgeniya Nyukhalova had 5 for the WolfPack.
In the second set: with the score tied at 9, Nyukhalova rattled up three straight points to give TRU a 12-9 advantage. The Bobcats rallied and won the second set by seven. The lead changed seven times in the set.
Coach Grimm experimented with his lineup in the third set and they battled but still fell short as their season record falls to .500.
SCORES BY SET:
Brandon 25 25 25
TRU 20 18 20
KEY STATS:
TRU
Yevgeniya Nyyukalova (1st year, outside hitter, Severodontsk, Ukraine) 11 kills in 29 chances, 5 digs
Rachel Windhorst (4th year,outside hitter, Surrey, BC) 7 kills in 20 chances, 2 digs
Avery Pottle (2nd year, middle, Uxbridge,ON) 3 kills in six swings, 2 digs, 1 block assist
Brandon
Nakala Majewski (4th year, left side,Winnipeg, MB) 8 kills in 32 opportunities, 1 service ace, 3 digs , 1 block assist
Rayvn Weibe (2nd year, left side, Morden, MB) 9 kills in 16 chances, 3 digs, 3 block assists
Sami Love (1st year, middle, Dauphin MB) 6 kills in 12 chances, 4 digs, 3 block assists, 2 service aces
Mary Thomson (5th year, setter, Brandon, MB) 24 assists, 3 kills in 13 chances, 7 digs.
RECORDS:
TRU: 2-2 Brandon 5-1
QUOTES:
TRU head coach Chad Grimm:
On sweep: “We were just flat. We never found any rhythm. We passed the ball really poorly. I felt bad for Abby (Spratt, 2nd year, setter, Calgary, AB) in there. In the first two sets, we couldn’t get the ball to her. When you can’t pass the ball you can’t compete.”
On using lots of players: “We were trying to find someone who was ready to play. We were not ready. Pretty much across the board. I thought at time Jane had some good energy. She wasn’t playing her best game but she brought some energy. I thought Rachel (Windhorst) in the second half of the match brought some good energy. I thought Katie Ludvig and Morgan (Ringelhof,3rd year, Science, Edmonton, AB) was ready to play as well when she got in.”
Brandon head coach Kevin Neufeld (1st year):
On high energy level: “I thought we played real well tonight. We served the ball real tough and put them in some problem. They were chasing the ball a bit and that made a big difference in the result for sure.”
On what they did different tonight: “ We played better. We served the ball in a couple of different zones that really helped us. We executed the way we are trying to play every game and every match and it worked well tonight.”
UP NEXT:
The WolfPack will have hit the road next weekend for matches at UBC Thursday and Friday (Nov 9-10) against the Thunderbirds.
That is the start of a four game road trip for TRU which sees them in Winnipeg November 17th and 18 th before returning home to the Warner Rentals court at the Tournament Capital Centre for their final matches before Christmas.
Their opponents on November 24-25th will be the University of Manitoba Bisons.
The Bobcats return home to Brandon to entertain the Trinity Western University Spartans on November 10-11th.)
Both the Brandon matches and the TRU road matches will be webcast on www.Canadawesttv
