Hail Ward of Kamloops in action against the TWU Spartans on Jan. 10, 2026. (Image Credit: Trinity Western Spartans)

By Victor Kaisar

Canada West Volleyball

WolfPack volleyball teams lose Saturday rematches to Spartans in Langley

Jan 11, 2026 | 10:10 AM

LANGLEY, B.C. — A tough Saturday for the Thompson Rivers (TRU) WolfPack volleyball teams as they squared up against the Trinity Western Spartans for the second of two weekend games.

The WolfPack women will be returning to Kamloops with a split after they fell 3-1 (17-25, 25-18, 23-25, 19-25) to the fourth-ranked Spartans. TRU, ranked seventh in Canada, took Friday’s game in straight sets.

Rida Erlalelitepe led the WolfPack with 17 kills, while Hail Ward added another 15 to go along with two aces, four blocks and 12 digs. Libby Meldrum also recorded 40 assists and a team-high five blocks at the Langley Events Centre.

“I think if we were able to finish off the third set we could have gotten a different result,” head coach Chad Grimm Said. “Trinity was better tonight than last night, they put more pressure on us from the service line, kept us out system and made it harder to score the ball.”

“We scored enough points to win the game but we gave them too many free points [and] it makes it really tough to win a match against a good team. Hopefully we can learn that lesson, find some better solutions when things are a little bit off and build from there.”

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It’s just the third loss of the season for the 11-3 WolfPack, who had a program-high seven game winning streak come to an end.

The WolfPack men started strong, but were unable to hold off the second-ranked Spartans in a 3-0 (24-26, 16-25, 21-25) loss Saturday night.

Rylan Ibbetson hit .409 per cent and finished with 11 kills on 22 attacks. Middle Jakob Leinemann added five kills and a game-high six blocks for the 4-10 WolfPack, who remain in a playoff spot. The Spartans, meanwhile, improve to 10-2 and remain third in Canada West.

The WolfPack teams are on a bye next weekend, and they’ll return to action against the Fraser Valley Cascades at the TCC on Friday, Jan. 23.