The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack have had some epic men’s volleyball battles since TRU entered Canada West eight years ago. Even though it was exhibition on Friday night (Oct. 11) at the Tournament Capital Centre in Kamloops, fans saw another chapter added to the story.
The T-Birds needed five sets to down the scrappy WolfPack. The scores were 25-23, 23-25, 27-25, 22-25, 15-11.
“How many times have we been in this position with a classic UBC/TRU battle,” stated Thunderbirds coach Richard Schick. “TRU played to their reputation of being scrappy and playing hard. We were lucky to be on the good side of this one.”
“We seem to bring out the best in them and vice versa,” said Thompson Rivers head coach Pat Hennelly, who decided to watch the match from the stands to get a different perspective of the talent on his team.
“Brad Gunter (3rd year, outside hitter, Courtenay) had an unofficial record performance tonight. Both middles and Phil Ozari (2nd year, outside hitter, Birkerod, Denmark) with double digit kills. That is what we need. Lots of composure through all four sets on our side.”
Gunter had 32 kills in 70 chances with six digs to lead all players.
“Brad certainly has developed a few extra shots this summer,” said Hennelly. “Some of the stuff he has done to change his speeds and move the ball around, it is a good thing to see.
“When you set a guy so many times you don’t want to see the same thing repeatedly. He had a great match with 34 and a half points. He seemed to struggle a bit in the fifth set to get that last kill.”
Nic Balazs (3rd year, middle, Prince George) had 12 kills in 19 chances. Ozari contributed 12 kills in 30 swings with 13 digs.
Colin Carson (5th year, setter, Prince George) had 64 assists while Spencer Reed (5th year, libero, Prince George) contributed 13 digs.
Big Win
After struggling through their first three matches at their own invitational tournament, the WolfPack swept the bronze medal match on Saturday night (Oct. 12), defeating the University of Guelph Gryphons 3-0. The scores were 25-18, 25-19, 25-14.
The WolfPack were led again by Gunter with 15 kills in 22 chances. Hennelly was happy with the way things finished for his club. “It is always about how you finish. I thought the guys were executing at an incredibly high level today.
“They had a lot of composure. It was very similar to the way we played against UBC last night. We just didn’t get pushed as hard. I think it is a good way to finish our pre-season.”
Hennelly summed up the weekend like this: “I think we got what we wanted. We had a lot of different experiences this weekend. We have finished week six of our pre-season. Now we move into week seven and eight before the ‘real deal’. We have a lot of things to accomplish.”
The WolfPack have their Canada West regular season opener on Friday, Oct. 25 in Kelowna against the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat. One night later, they will be at the Tournament Capital Centre for their home opener.
– TRU WolfPack
