The WolfPack women’s volleyball team spent the Valentine’s weekend in Calgary, where a pair of sweeps against the University of Calgary Dinos earned them the opportunity to host a playoff game at the Tournament Capital Centre for the first time in program history.
Wrapping up the regular season, the ‘Pack headed to play the Dinos in their barn. On Friday night, the ‘Pack jumped on the game early to take a 10-5 edge over the Dinos. In the first 15 points, they had three blocks, which all helped contribute to their 25-19 victory to set the tone of the weekend. In the second set, the ‘Pack didn’t even let the Dinos have a chance, dominating the second set, taking an eight-point lead from the first serve. The set was over quickly as the team took a 25-9 victory with just one more set needed to top off an impressive performance. The ‘Pack hit .462 percent as a team while they held the Dinos to -.095. The third started off with both teams trading points, until the ‘Pack snuck away with a six-point lead after the score was tied 17-17, to give them the third set and the first game of the weekend.
Hail Ward put up had a game-high 15 kills while hitting .542 percent, while. Keria Gent added another ten kills in her hometown of Calgary, and middle Myah Cressy added another six kills in the game. Libby Meldrum helped the ‘Pack with 31 assists, four service aces and three blocks.
With this win, TRU’s record improved to 13-6, moving them to fifth in the conference. For the ‘Pack to be able to host their first-ever home playoff game, two conditions needed to be met. First, the women needed to win the game against Calgary on Saturday night, and secondly, they needed Manitoba to come up short against Fraser Valley.
“We had a pretty business-like approach tonight. I thought the girls were disciplined with the exception of kind of the first half of the third set, but overall I thought they did well.” Head Coach Chad Grimm said in a press release following the games. “Overall, I’m happy with the performance tonight.”
On Saturday, TRU knew a win was needed from them for their hopes of a home playoff game to continue. The set started off going back and forth in points, the ‘Pack pulled away at the midpoint and took a six-point lead when they scored five straight points, which featured three kills from Gent. This lead allowed them to complete a 25-21 victory in the first set of the second game. In the second, the WolfPack held the lead the whole time. Faith Christensen contributed four kills in her last regular-season game as a part of the WolfPack.
Moving into the third, only one set separated the ‘Pack from a complete sweep of the weekend. The team got out to an early 9-5 lead with impressive Blocks from Maria Dancheva and Meldrum. From that point on, the ‘Pack kept the lead. Gent and Christensen both had two kills in the set that helped the team secure a 25-19 set win and a weekend victory.
Christensen had eight kills on just 11 swings on the night, while Meldrum finished the season as the leader of all of U SPORTS in assists, adding 32 more to her tally for 725 on the year. The WolfPack finished the season with 14 wins, six losses, and recorded the best winning percentage (70 per cent) in a single season in program history. The team also set another program record with 10 of their 14 wins this season finished 3-0, giving them their most straight-sets victories.
With a loss by Manitoba against Fraser Valley on Saturday, the ‘Pack officially clinched the home advantage for their playoff game.
“We are excited to host, it’s a new benchmark for our program – something that we’ve never been able to do. We’ll be happy to not travel and play in front of our fans and the city of Kamloops. We are looking forward to the support, and I know the girls are excited for that.” Grimm said. “The girls that have been on this journey for a long time have earned this so I’m really happy for them.”
The WolfPack earned the bye in the first round of playoffs, so they will have the next weekend off before they host the Manitoba Bisons at home in the TCC. The games will be best-of-three and will take place on Thursday, Feb. 26, Friday, Feb. 27, and Saturday, Feb. 28, if needed. All three games will start at 6:00 p.m.