WolfPack earn first home playoff win in program history

KAMLOOPS - Thompson Rivers WolfPack women's volleyball team earned the first Canada West playoff victory inside the Tournament Capital Centre in program history Thursday night, picking up a wild 3-2 (25-22, 13-25, 25-16, 20-25, 15-8) victory over the Manitoba Bisons.

In a match full of momentum swings, the WolfPack were able to outlast the defending U SPORTS national champion Bisons to take the first game in the best-of-three quarter-final series.

Maria Dancheva led the way for the WolfPack with 13 kills and five block assists on the night. Hail Ward added 11 kills while Libby Meldrum tallied 43 assists and four service aces.

Two-time reigning U SPORTS Player of the Year Raya Surinx powered the Bisons with 17 kills and a trio of aces on the night. Fourth-year middle Aviendah Plett had an extremely efficient 11 kills on 17 attacks while rookie setter Julia Martens set a new career-high with 45 assists.

A back-and-forth affair came down to the fifth and final set. Buoyed by a boisterous home crowd of well over 1200, the 'Pack took the first four points of the fifth thanks to a kill from Rida Erlalelitepe and three-straight Bisons errors. The visitors refused to go away, as Plett tallied a pair of kills to help Manitoba score five of the set's next eight points to cut the WolfPack lead to 7-5. That was as close as the Bisons would come however as both Keira Gent and Dancheva recorded a service ace and a kill down the stretch to send the 'Pack to the 15-8 win.

Neither team was able to hold momentum for long in the match. After TRU claimed a close first set 25-22, the Bisons responded in a big way in the second. Plett powered Manitoba with four kills in a second set that saw the visitors turn what was a tight 10-10 frame into a dominant 25-13 victory. The WolfPack returned the favour in the third, holding Manitoba to hitting just .023 per cent as a team en route to a commanding 25-16 win. The Bisons responded in the fourth with a 25-20 to set up the all-important fifth and final frame.

A major difference in the night came at the service where TRU fired in nine aces and made just seven errors compared to the Bisons' marks of five aces and 12 errors.

The playoff victory was the first for the WolfPack since the 2019-20 season.

These two teams will be back to battle tomorrow night in Kamloops. The WolfPack will be looking to clinch the series and advance to the Canada West Final Four while Manitoba will by trying to force game three. That game gets underway at 6:00 p.m. PT inside the TCC Gym and can be watched live on CanadaWest.TV - Powered by BioSteel.