By Victor Kaisar

Canada West Volleyball

WolfPack women knock off Spartans to extend win streak to program-best seven

Jan 10, 2026 | 9:17 AM

LANGLEY, B.C. — The Thompson Rivers (TRU) WolfPack women’s volleyball team began the second half of the Canada West season with a straight sets win against one of the top teams in Canada.

The WolfPack women, who are ranked seventh in Canada, beat the fourth-ranked Trinity Western Spartans 3-0 (25-21, 25-14, 25-23) at the Langley Events Centre Friday (Jan. 9) night. It’s TRU’s seventh win in a row – their longest ever win streak in program history – as the improved to a Canada West-best 11-2.

“I thought we did a good job of getting off to a good start, sometimes that’s been a little bit of an issue for us,” WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm said. “We played our game right from the beginning and did a good job of establishing that early.”

“Overall it was a good performance and it’s nice to be able to hold our nerve in the third and just get the job done.”

Hail Ward and Rida Erlalelitepe had 12 kills each while Lucy Millam added six in her first start of the season for the WolfPack. Maria Dancheva finished with six blocks.

LOOPED IN

LOOPED IN WITH NIKKI OMEN: February 12, 2026

1h ago

One Man's Opinion

COLLINS: Are we any closer to understanding the human mind?

3h ago

Question of the Week

Do you believe major government cuts are necessary to bring the provincial deficit under control?

Feb 09, 2026

The WolfPack men came close to pulling off the upset Friday night, as they fell 3-2 (25-27, 25-22, 23-25, 25-20, 11-15) to the second-ranked Spartans.

Merritt native Alex Howard led the way for the WolfPack with 16 kills on the night. Fifth-year outside hitter Rylan Ibbetson added another 14 while Daniel Hitchens had 11 kills on just 17 swings. Walker Sodaro finished with 45 assists and 12 digs.

The WolfPack men are 4-9 on the season and sit ninth in Canada West, and they remain in the hunt for a playoff berth. The Spartans improved to 9-2 and sit third in Canada West.

The WolfPack and Spartans will face each other this evening, with the women set to play at 3:00 p.m. followed by the men at 5:00 p.m.