After a historic last season, the Women’s Volleyball team swept their opening weekend of the season against the Mount Royal Cougars. The WolfPack entered the season ranked second in the Canada West preseason coaches’ poll.
On Friday night, in their first game, they fell short in the first set; the Cougars picked up the win by just two points, 25-23. However, the ‘Pack would go on to claim the next three for the eventual game win.
In the second set, the ‘Pack got out to an early start, taking a 9-3 lead. The Cougars worked their way back into the game before the WolfPack went on a 6-1 run that featured two kills apiece from veterans Hail Ward and Rida Erlalelitepe. TRU would take the set 25-19.
The third set of the night was a back-and-forth match between the two, which put the Pack down 22-21 at one point. Before they made a comeback to claim it 25-22.
TRU took the game victory in the fourth set, which featured an 8-1 run. they would wrap it up with a 22-17 final.
Ward, Erlalelitepe and Keira Gent all led the ‘pack’s attack, with 16, 11, and 10 kills. Ward also added a pair of aces, while Erlalelitepe had 14 digs.
“Obviously happy to get the win but we know Mount Royal is going to come out hard tomorrow so we have to do a good job of stepping up a little bit, bringing a little more energy and discipline to our game, managing situations a little better but overall I’m happy to get a win on the road against a tough competitor.” Head Coach Chad Grimm said in a WolfPack Athletics press release.
On Saturday night, the women got ready to face off against the Cougars once again. In the first set, the ‘Pack dominated early, including making no attack errors, having a .250 hitting percentage and taking a 7-2 lead. The Cougars tried to catch up, but the WolfPack shut them down with a 14-7 run, and winning the set 25-16. MRU fought back in the second set to make it a narrow 25-21 win for the ‘Pack before the Cougars took the third set 19-25.
TRU rebounded in the fourth set. They took an early lead, and the Cougars tried to claw their way back into the game. However, the ‘Pack ran away with a 25-19 win in the set that would hand them the game win and a sweep of the weekend.
Once again, Gent and Ward let the offensive attack for the ‘Pack, with 14 kills for Gent and 12 digs from Ward.
The WolfPack will be back in Kamloops next weekend for their home-opener and they will face off against the Regina Cougars. First up is a game Friday at 7:15 p.m., followed by a Saturday evening game that gets underway at 4:45 p.m.