Two of the top ten ranked teams in Canadian University women’s volleyball go head to head this weekend in Vancouver. The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack will tangle with the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in Canada West play on Friday and Saturday (Nov 22-23).
The WolfPack (7-1) are ranked tenth in the most recent USPORTS rankings while the Thunderbirds (5-3) are rated eighth. Both schools entered the top ten rankings for the first time this year this week.
Thompson Rivers has won its last three matches while UBC have been victorious in their last two.
Kendra Finch (5th year, outside hitter, North Vancouver, BC)-the Canada West’s female second star of the week leads the WolfPack in kills per set (3.48). She is ranked fifth in the league. Teammate Kseniya Kocyigit (1st year, middle, Byaroza, Belarus) is second in hitting percentage (.333).
Finch leads the WolfPack in kills 108, is tied for the club lead in service aces (9—with Erin Mutch (2nd year, outside, Victoria, BC) and Abby Spratt (4th year, setter, Calgary, AB) and leads the team in digs (102). Kocyigit leads the WolfPack with 36 total blocks (30 being block assists).
UBC has lost their top player from last year as Kiera Van Ryk decided to turn professional. Van Ryk was the Canada West and U SPORTS player of the year.
UBC is led by Gabrielle Attieh (3rd year, middle, Surrey, BC). She is third in Canada West in kills per set (3.70). Anna Price (5th year, left side, Port Moody, BC) is fifth in service aces per set (0.59) while Kayla Oxland (2nd year, outside hitter/setter, Vancouver, BC) is third in assists per set (9.67).The Thunderbirds are expected to bolstered by the return of third year middle/outside hitter Jayde Robertson(Delta, BC).
Last season, the teams played at the Tournament Capital Centre (Oct 26-27) and split. The Pack won the first night 3-2: 25-21,23-25,25-16,21-25,15-11. Olga Savenchuk (2nd year, outside hitter, Donetsk, Ukraine) had 11 kills for Thompson Rivers while Avery Pottle (4th year, outside hitter, Uxbridge, ON) added 10. Van Ryk had 15 kills for the Thunderbirds.
The next night, UBC won in straight sets (25-20,25-13,25-18) with Van Ryk notching 15 kills again. Finch had nine kills and Savenchuk added seven kills respectively.
The last time the two teams met at UBC was November 9-10, 2017. UBC won both matches : 3-1 26-24,23-25,25-20,25-17) and 3-0 (25-23,25-21,25-18).
Match times this weekend are 7 PM PDT Friday (Nov 22) and 5 PM PDT Saturday (Nov 23). They are available on a pay-per-view basis on Canada West TV presented by Co-op by accessing: https://cw.yaretv.com/. Results will be available on the WolfPack social media platforms and their website www.goWolfPack.ca.
COMMENTS OF WOLFPACK HEAD COACH CHAD GRIMM:
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1197358378147672065
COMMENTS OF TRU OUTSIDE HITTER AVERY POTTLE (4th year, Uxbridge, ON):
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1197358350217777157
[SOURCE: Thompson Rivers University]