Image Credit: University of Alberta

By Victor Kaisar

WolfPack Volleyball Recap

WolfPack men beat second-ranked Alberta; women fall in battle of nationally ranked volleyball teams

Jan 25, 2025 | 10:20 AM

EDMONTON — The TRU WolfPack volleyball teams split a pair of games in Edmonton against the nationally ranked University of Alberta Friday (Jan. 24) evening.

For the second time in three weeks, the WolfPack men beat a team ranked second in the nation as they took down the Golden Bears 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 15-25, 31-29, 15-10).

Sam Flowerday led the way for TRU with 17 kills and a pair of aces. Rylan Ibbetson added 13 kills and four block assists while Gavin Margerison had five kills, three blocks and seven block assists.

The Sodaro bothers also had a memorable night as Walker recorded 35 assists while Mason finished with six kills on just nine attacks.

“It was a big night from multiple guys,” WolfPack men’s head coach Pat Hennelly said. “A big win to keep our playoff hopes alive.”

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The WolfPack improve to 4-9 on the season, and sit in 11th place out of 13 teams. The top ten teams qualify for Canada West playoffs.

Alberta remains in second place with an 11-4 record.

Also in Edmonton, the fifth-ranked WolfPack women saw their six game win streak ended at the hands of the fourth-ranked University of Alberta Pandas, who took the game 3-0 (25-21, 25-15, 25-23).

Rida Erlalelitepe and Brooklyn Olfert led the WolfPack with 12 and 11 kills respectively, while Hadley Schmidt recorded 20 assists.

“We just didn’t have it tonight,” Head Coach Chad Grimm said. “We started okay and had a lead late in the first set and got stuck in a rotation and that’s on me, I should have made a move earlier to try and break that up a little more.”

“We had a real tough time getting past giving up that lead. The second set we just never found our rhythm. To their credit, the team responded in the third and it was tight.”

The WolfPack drop to 10-3 on the season and sit in fifth in Canada West. Third-place Alberta improved to 12-3.

The two teams will rematch in Edmonton Saturday afternoon, with the men’s game scheduled for 4:00 p.m. B.C. time, followed by the women at 6:00 p.m.