VANCOUVER – After a rare setback on Friday night the Thompson Rivers Wolfpack returned to their winning ways thanks to a 3-1 (25-23, 25-15, 21-25, 25-14) victory over the UBC Thunderbirds Saturday at War Memorial Gym. With the win TRU improves to 7-3 on the season while UBC falls to 6-4.
Leading the way for the Wolfpack it was Kendra Finch with 13 kills and two service aces while Kseniya Kocyigit added nine kills and a match high three service aces, Olga Savenchuk recorded six kills and matched the game high three service aces. For UBC it was Gabrielle Attieh that registered a game high 14 kills and two service aces while Heather Pippus added 10 kills and three digs.
“I think it was a good bounce back,” said TRU head coach Chad Grimm. “We were obviously disappointed with last night’s performance, we didn’t think we made the best impression of ourself and if we want to be a good team we can’t lose two games in a row. It was nice for the girls to come out and put together a performance tonight, it was a bit of a role reversal from last night, we were in system and made it tough on them to attack from balls in the middle of the court which is tough.”
An entertaining first set saw the teams trade points before TRU took a two point 19-17 lead thanks to Kocyigit’s deep kill into the ‘Birds backcourt led to the hosts calling a timeout. Out of the break it was a Cara Kovacs block and tip that gave the T-Birds 22-21 lead but it was short lived thanks to Kendra Finch making her presence felt with a key block pushing the Wolfpack to set point at 24-23 before Finch followed up with an emphatic kill to secure the 25-23 win and 1-0 advantage. Savenchuk set the tone for the visitors with four kills while Finch and Kocyigit added three kills each. For UBC Anna Price led the way with four kills while Attieh recorded two service aces.
The Wolfpack would keep their momentum going in the second set with an overpowering showing that began with an early 3-0 lead. UBC’s Attieh who recorded a set high six kills would record three in a row to draw even at 3-3 but TRU would pull away once again to build a healthy 16-10 lead at the technical timeout. A Kocyigit kill gave the visitors set point at 24-15 before Gabriella Podolski provided the final kill for a 25-15 set win. Finch recorded a set high five kills for TRU while Avery Pottle registered two service aces.
The T-Birds wouldn’t go quietly and rebounded with a 25-21 third set victory. Leading the charge for UBC was Attieh and Pippus with five kills each while Kovacs added three of her own. It was a Gabby kill that gave the ‘Birds set point 24-20 before Pippus stepped up to deliver the final blow to pull within one, 2-1.
In the fourth frame the Wolfpack found their earlier rhythm and efficiency in building a convincing lead highlighted by Kocyigit’s third ace of match put TRU up 14-6. The visitors would keep rolling in extending their advantage to 19-6 and prompting a UBC timeout. The ‘Birds would respond with a mini run before Erin Mutch provided the final kill in the 25-14 fourth set win and 3-1 match victory.
Up next the T-Birds hit the road for a meeting against the University of Alberta next weekend to conclude the 2019 portion of the schedule while TRU is also on the road to visit the Saskatchewan Huskies.
[SOURCE: UBC]