Nothing like pitting yourself against the best to see how good you are. That’s what the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack will be doing as they open up their 2019-20 Canada West men’s volleyball season.
The WolfPack begin their regular season in Brandon this weekend against the defending league champion Bobcats.
The teams play Friday and Saturday (Oct 18-19). The matches will be part of Brandon’s volleyball alumni weekend. Friday’s match will have a 5:45 pm PDT start time. Saturday’s match goes at 4:45 pm PDT.
DETAILS:
The Bobcats and the WolfPack have had a great rivalry despite the geographical distance between Kamloops and Brandon. Both entered Canada West at the same time and have played some spirited matches both there and at the Tournament Capital Centre. The teams have met in the playoffs a number of times as well.
The Bobcats went 10-4 in the pre season while the WolfPack were 4-5.
RECORDS OF NOTE:
The Bobcats are 1-3 at home against Thompson Rivers the last 10 times they have played against each other. Brandon leads the all time regular season series against the Pack 6-4 and have won the last six meetings between the two schools.
These matches are the first between the two in Brandon since November 4-5, 2016 where the Bobcats won 3-1 and 3-0.
Brandon was 20-2 and finished first in the Canada West in 2018-19. Thompson Rivers finished sixth in league play at 11-11. The Bobcats took on Trinity Western in the league final last year and won as the championship in a winner take all one match showdown. It went five sets. The two met in the gold medal match at U SPORTS Nationals at Laval, Quebec and lost in straight sets to Trinity.
WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME BETWEEN THE TWO SIDES:
Last season (2018-19) the Bobcats came to Kamloops where they beat the WolfPack 3-1 the first night (Feb 1) where the scores were 20-25,26-24,27-25,25-20. The second night Brandon won 3-2 (Feb 2) where the scores were 25-19,22-25,25-22,22-25,15-10.
PLAYERS TO WATCH:
TRU:
Landon Currie (3rd year, libero, Vernon, BC): was named top libero at NORECA tournament this summer in Peru. Led WolfPack with 148 digs last season.
Sam Taylor Parks (5th year, middle, Kelowna, BC): 140 kills, 77 total blocks including 70 block assists
Charlie Bringloe (5th year, outside hitter, Waterloo,ON) second on team with 207 kills. third on team with 33 service aces
Anton Napolitano (4th year, setter, Victoria, AUS): was third in Canada West in service aces per set (0.51). led team with 43 service aces
Kyle Behiels (5th year, middle, Edmonton, AB): fifth in Canada West in service aces per set (0.43). Second on the team in service aces 36. Had 109 kills last season.
Brandon:
Robin Baghdady (2nd year, outside hitter, Geneva, SUI): was named to the U SPORTS tournament all-star team. Was fourth in Canada West last year in service aces per set (0.43). third in the league in hitting percentage (.326)
Elliot Viles (4th year, outside hitter, Adelaide, AUS): was second in the league last year in hitting. Second in Cnaada West in hitting percentage (.366)
Seth Friesen (5th year, outside hitter, Brandon, MB): U SPORTS tournament all-star last season. Had 226 kills (second on the team) last year with 48 total blocks (40 block assists)
COMMENTS OF WOLFPACK COACH PAT HENNELLY:
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1184835763688505345
COMMENTS OF WOLFPACK MIDDLE SAM TAYLOR PARKS (5TH YEAR, KELOWNA,BC):
https://twitter.com/GoTRUWolfPack/status/1184835831573315584
The WolfPack will return home after these matches for their first regular season matches at the Tournament Capital Center. They will host the University of Calgary Dinos on Friday and Saturday October 28-29th. Both matches will be 6:45 pm start times.
All of the above games can been seen 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.
[SOURCE: Thompson Rivers University]