Kelowna, BC— The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men’s volleyball team became the first victim of the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat in Canada West play this season.
The teams battled for five sets before the Heat took the Pack 3-2 for their first victory in 20 starts. TRU falls to 10-11.
The scores on a Friday night (Feb 15) at the “Furnace” were 25-22,20-25,25-23,12-25,15-10.
The loss also gave the Heat hope in winning the men’s portion of the President’s Cup competition. UBCO now has three wins, two losses and a draw as do the WolfPack. That forces a ‘winner take all’ showdown on Saturday night (Feb 16) in the final regular season match for both teams.
SYNOPSIS
The WolfPack were led offensively again by Tim Dobbert (5th year, outside hitter, Aichelberg, Germany) with 24 kills. Charlie Bringloe (4th year, outside hitter, Waterloo, ON) had 14 kills while Sam Taylor Parks (4th year, middle) had nine kills in 16 swings in his hometown.
Dobbert now has 371 kills: the most in the Canada West. He is second in kills per set at 4.42.
The WolfPack had 14 service aces to UBCO’s 6. They also had 23 service errors to the Heat’s 11. TRU had only six reception errors to UBCO’s 14. The Heat had 26 attack errors to TRU’s 20.
The Heat’s top offensive weapon was Cam Vanderveen with 12 kills in 32 opportunities. Matt Aubrey chipped in with 10 kills in 45 chances. Former WolfPack setter Denham O’Reilly (4th year, Langley, BC) had 27 assists, 12 digs and three block assists in his first regular season match against his old team.
The defeat puts TRU into a tie for sixth spot in Canada West along with Calgary and UBC. All eight playoff spots are now secure in Canada West. If the playoffs started tonight, the WolfPack would be heading to Edmonton to take on the Alberta Golden Bears. Other matchups would see Brandon hosting UBC, Trinity Western entertaining Calgary and Mount Royal hosting Saskatchewan.
KEY STATS:
SCORES:
TRU: 22 25 23 25 10 —2
UBCO: 25 20 25 12 15 —3
TRU
Tim Dobbert: 24 kills in 56 chances, 3 service aces, 11 digs
Charlie Bringloe: 14 kills in 35 swings, 2 service aces, 9 digs
Sam Taylor Parks: 9 kills in 16 opportunities, 4 service aces, 6 block assists, 4 digs
Landon Currie: 10 digs, 7 assists
Anton Napolitano: 42 assists, 1 service ace, 10 digs
UBCO :
Cam Vanderveen: 12 kills in 32 opportunities, 8 digs, 3 block assists, 1 service ace
Matt Aubrey: 10 kills in 45 swings, 2 service aces, 2 assists, 5 digs
Max Heppel: 8 kills in 26 chances, 2 service aces, 9 digs, 2 block assists
Denham O’Reilly: 27 assists, 12 digs, 3 block assists
