With a 7-1 record, the TRU women's volleyball team has earned a spot in the country's top 10 rankings. It's the first time in program history (Image Credit: Andrew Snucins / TRU Athletics)

By Chad Klassen

TOP 10 TEAM

WolfPack women’s volleyball make history with spot in U SPORTS Top 10

Nov 19, 2019 | 2:26 PM

KAMLOOPS — It’s been a special year so far for the WolfPack women’s volleyball team. They’re 7-1 after a weekend sweep at home against Regina and sit third in the Canada West standings.

The quick start has now earned them a first in the program’s history — a place in the U SPORTS Top 10 rankings.

“It’s been a long road from where we started,” said head coach Chad Grimm, who took over a program that had back-to-back winless seasons from 2012 to 2014. “It’s been nice. It kind of validates where we’re going. Let’s us know we’re heading in the right direction. But it’s also just a ranking. We’re looking at [accomplishing] other things.”

Fourth-year libero Hali Drazet added, “It’s pretty crazy. TRU’s women have never been ranked in the Top 10 before and I think it’s something we’ve worked for.”

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Since joining the women’s team, Grimm, who took over from Keith Lundgren near the end of the 2013-2014 campaign, has made a major difference.

“I’ve been myself. I’ve tried to work hard. I’ve tried to have open communication with the girls. I’ve tried to include them in this journey, so they can take responsibility for it as well,” he noted.

A former assistant under men’s coach Pat Hennelly, Grimm has taken some of Hennelly’s tricks and tapped into the Eastern European market to bolster the program.

“It obviously started with Iulia [Pakhomenko in 2014]. We were a struggling program. She came, we got some wins on the board. It helped us recruit better domestic athletes, and then we now have a really solid base of domestics,” said Grimm. “We can add a couple extra pieces that hopefully can help put us over the top.”

Drazet says the fact no one graduated last year has strengthened this group to the point where they only have lost once in eight games this season and are near the top of the conference.

“We had two new people come to the team, but we’ve all played together for a whole year already,” she said. “It really helped with our on-court and off-court chemistry. Last year, we used it as a building year, but still had success. Now, Chad knows our expectation. We have to meet them.”

Now that they’re in the Top 10 rankings, the WolfPack want to stay there and even climb up the board. They face No. 8 UBC on the coast this weekend before travelling to Saskatoon to play the Huskies, who are 6-2 and fourth in Canada West.

“I think we’re a pretty grounded program. I don’t think any of this has gone to our head,” said Grimm. “We still know we haven’t proven anything. It’s still November. We want to be good in February and March, and so in order to do that we’re going to have to be competitive every weekend.”