Image Credit: Archie Golding/LeftRight Media via TRU WolfPack)

By Victor Kaisar

Canada West Volleyball

WolfPack volleyball teams drop Saturday rematches to top-ranked Thunderbirds

Nov 9, 2025 | 9:24 AM

KAMLOOPS — The TRU women’s volleyball team went toe-to-toe with the UBC Thunderbirds, though they fell just short Saturday (Nov. 8) night in Kamloops.

The WolfPack dropped the game against the second ranked Thunderbirds 3-2 (25-23, 16-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-11) to split the weekend at the TCC, after they took Friday’s meeting 3-1.

Both teams are 4-2 in Canada West, though TRU is in sole possession of third place in with 13 points while UBC has 12.

Keira Gent finished with a team-high 17 kills for the WolfPack to go along with 13 digs while Hail Ward added 11 kills and 13 digs. Rida Erlalelitepe recorded 11 kills and a trio of service aces while Maria Dancheva hit .450 per cent to finish with 10 kills and two blocks.

“I said to the team before the game that we need to get into the mindset of giving ourselves a chance to win and we did that,” WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm said. “Coming back the second night can be tough after a good result on the first night so I’m happy with the performance.”

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“It also shows that the margins are small and in the fifth set, after playing for over two hours, if you miss a few assignments it’s going to sting you in the end. I think hopefully it will be a good learning experience.”

Elsewhere, the TRU men’s team put together a much better effort than the night before bt the dropped a 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-20) decision to the top-ranked Thunderbirds at the TCC.

For the second night in a row it was rookie Daniel Hitchens who paced the WolfPack offence with eight kills. Alex Howard added six kills while Walker Sodaro recorded 23 assists and a pair of blocks.

“We were absolutely better tonight. I thought our service game was better, our passing was better,” head coach Pat Hennelly said. “Unfortunately, we just seemed to stall out in the first and second set in what we call the redzone – 18-20 points. We had some unforced errors and guys were kind of looking around for someone else to step up.”

“I am proud of the way the guys fought tonight, it was a better effort all around and we are looking forward to a little bit of a break coming up with our bye weekend.”

Next up for the WolfPack women is a pair of road games in Saskatchewan against the Regina Cougars this coming weekend, Nov. 14 and 15. The men (and women) will be in action the following weekend, Nov. 21 and 22 in Kelowna against the UBC Okanagan Heat.