The inaugural season of the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men’s soccer program in the Canada West Athletic Conference ended the way it began: with some  fanfare.

The WolfPack concluded the 2014 season on Sunday (Oct 19) with a 1-1 tie against the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat.

Thompson Rivers ends the regular season with two wins, eight losses and two ties while UBCO had five wins, five losses and two ties.

WolfPack head coach John Antulov (Conzie photo)

“It was the most bizarre game I have ever seen in my 35 years of soccer,” said WolfPack head coach John Antulov.  “ I have played and coached at all levels but what I saw in the area of officiating had me scratching my head.”

Within the first 30 minutes of a scoreless contest, the WolfPack were down to nine men.

Austin Schneebeli (Andrew Snucins photo)

Austin Schneebeli (2^nd year, defender, Sicamous, BC) received two back to back yellow cards.  Under the rules, that translates to a red card.  When the official ejected Schneebeli,  WolfPack midfielder Satinder Dhaliwal (3^rd year, Surrey, BC) was handed a red card as well.

Satinder Dhaliwal (Andrew Snucins photo)

Undaunted by being down two men, the WolfPack took the lead at the 35 minute mark. Colton Walker (2^nd year, midfield, Sicamous, BC) stared the play off and carried it up field passing to Jacob Kaay (midfield, Kamloops, BC).

Colton Walker and Brendan Mendez battle in this match (Cary Mellon photo)

Kaay, playing his final collegiate match, broke to the left and fired a rocket to the low corner of the net.  It was his second goal of the season.

Jacob Kaay with the WolfPack coaching staff at his graduation cerimony (Andrew Snucins photo)

UBCO tied the contest at the 60 minute mark.  The WolfPack were called for a ‘handball’ and the Heat scored on the penalty kick.

Finlay McPhie (Andrew Snucins photo)

“Everyone in attendance was mystified at the call,” stated Antulov who said immediately after the penalty kick, defender Finlay McPhie (1^st year, Vernon, BC) was issued a yellow card.

Antulov survays the field (Andrew Snucins photo)

Antulov praised the way his players and coaching staff handled the situation. “ I was proud of the guys . They acted like true sportsmen and the way they have been all season. They didn’t give up. They were committed and battled through extenuating circumstances.  At the conclusion of the match, UBCO Athletic Director Rob Johnston came over and shook our hands commending us on our sportsmanship and refusing to let the situation get to us.”

Travis Froehlich makes save earlier this year (Andrew Snucins photo)

Antulov said his team played good soccer by limiting UBCO to shots from the outside and gave credit to player of the match Travis Froehlich (4^th year, keeper, Revelstoke, BC)  for making some outstanding saves to keep it close.

Travis Froehlich waves off UBCO player (photo by Cary Mellon)

“We have no choice but to appeal the cards,” said Antulov.  “As a result of what happened today, I will be missing six regulars for next year’s season opener.”

The WolfPack plan to send the game tape to the Canada West convener in the coming days.

Members of the WolfPack Cross Country, Soccer, Basketball and Volleyball squads were manning all the entrances to Thompson Rivers University on Monday morning (Oct 20). They were out to help promote the 2014 United Way Campaign on campus. This year’s catch phrase is “TRUly United”.

Just days ahead of their home opener, the WolfPack volleyball teams held their annual media day at the ‘Wolfs’ Den’.

Fans of the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men’s volleyball team will finally get a chance to see them at home.   The WolfPack have their 2014-15 Canada West home opener this weekend (Oct 24-25).

WolfPack head coach Pat Hennelly (Andrew Snucins photo)

After spending the first two weeks of the regular season on the road, Pat Hennelly and his team will be hosting the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds at the Tournament Capital Centre.  Game time Friday will be 7:45 pm.

“I’m looking forward to the home opener,” says Hennelly” Erin Connelly-Reed (WolfPack’s Event Coordinator) has set up some great promotions and we should have a solid crowd. I always look forward to the first time we play at home.”

Brad Gunter (Andrew Snucins photo)

The Thunderbirds have a 3 and 1 record going into the weekend.  Thompson Rivers sits at 0 and 4.  Their record is very misleading. They have played three of those matches without CIS Player of the Year and National “B” team member Brad Gunter (4^th year, outside hitter, Courtenay, BC) and Casey Knight (5^th year, outside hitter, Salt Spring Island, BC).  Both have been injured.

Casey Knight (Andrew Snucins photo)

“Casey is back on the court practicing,” Hennelly explains. “We won’t know until later in the week if he is ready to play.”

While that could be used as an excuse for the start, Hennelly prefers not to.  He looks at the evolution of his squad over the first four matches:  “This past weekend, we took a step forward as a team competing the second night. Until we have everyone back from injuries, we will have to work harder as a group on the little things: taking care of the ball, serving and defence.  We have had to put pressure on other players in the organization.”

Randy Grundmann (Andrew Snucins photo)

Hennelly points to Randy Grundmann (2^nd year, outside hitter, Winnipeg, MB) and Douglas Groenendijk (1^st year, middle, Westhome, BC) as examples. “Randy has certainly stepped up and provided defence while Douglas really came into his own on Saturday.”

Douglas Groenendijk (Andrew Snucins photo)

UBC is ranked fifth in the most recent CIS top 10 ratings. “They are a club which has returned a majority of its players from last year. They had the second best regular season in Canada West last season. I know they will be tough and we will have our hands full with Milan Nikic (4^th year, setter, Calgary, AB) running the offense with players like Ben Chow (4^th year, outside hitter, Surrey, BC) , Alex Russell (4^th year, middle, Surrey,BC) and Chris Howe (5^th year, Salt Spring Island, BC) .”

Chow is tied for second in the Canada West in digs (40) and fourth in hitting percentage (.356). Nikic is third in assists per set (9.87).

The match will be webcast live on http://canadawest.tv.

SIDE OUTS:  The WolfPack are hosting their annual “Senior Howler” tournament on Friday and Saturday with 22 senior boys teams from throughout BC taking part.  Says Hennelly: “. We have the top ranked AAA teams KSS and Earl Marriot and a host of other top ten teams from around the Province, Vancouver Island (Oak Bay, Woodlands and GP Vanier) Prince George(DP Todd)  and the Kootenay’s(Mt Sentinel)  all represented. It is a chance for me to see some recruits and recruits to see what a game looks like at TRU.”

As is tradition: the Kamloops Raiden Taiko Drum Group will be at the WolfPack home opener. TRU has lost only twice since the group has performed at their matches.

Saturday is “Alumni Night” for the WolfPack with special events planned for volleyball alumni.

After spending the last two weeks on the road, the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack are gearing up for their 2014-15 Canada West home opening weekend.

The WolfPack (1-3) will take on the number nine ranked team in the CIS—the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds (2-2).  The teams will play matches Friday and Saturday (Oct 24-25) at the Tournament Capital Centre.  Friday’s match has a 6 pm start time.

WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm (Andrew Snucins photo)

Head coach Chad Grimm says the first match at home is always something special. “It is the first chance for many girls on our team to play a regular season match in front of our own fans who are always very supportive of our teams.  It is also a little extra special for me in that I am a UBC alumni so I have a chance to open up the season at home against my former team.”

The WolfPack have surprised a few people this year with their improved play.  Grimm believes that has made it more fun for everyone involved from the players to the coaches and the fans.

Last weekend (Oct 18-19), Thompson Rivers won it’s first league match in over two years when they won a five set match with Calgary.  “I think whenever you split on the road with a team ahead of you in the standings it is a positive result.  We are still trying to find a higher level of stability in our game and improve each week.”

Iuliia Pakhomenko blocks (Andrew Snucins photo)

He continued: “This past weekend I think Iuliia Pakhomenko (3^rd year, outside hitter, Donetsk, Ukraine) showed some good leadership down the stretch and made some clutch serves for the victory on Friday night.  On Saturday the team was a bit flat but did show some grit to come back in the third set and give us a chance to lengthen the match.  Tyneille Neufeld (1^st year, outside hitter, Winnipeg, MB) came in at the libero position and was stable in serve receive and made some great plays defensively.  Morgan Kolasa (2^nd year, middle, Calgary, AB) also had a good weekend at the net and has shown some good improvement in her blocking.”

Morgan Kolasa (Andrwe Snucins photo)

Pakhomenko is fifth in the Canada West in kills per set (3.38) and tied for third in kills (54).

Grimm outlines what they will be working on in practice this week. “Our focus has remained the same throughout this first part of the season.  We are working a lot on basic skills with reception and defense and mixing in our transition game as much as we can.  We believe we need to lay a strong foundation of skills before we can progress further in any other facet of the game so that has and will remain our focus in this first part of the season.”

Tyneille Neufeld (Andrew Snucins photo)

As far as a key to beating UBC is concerned: “UBC is obviously a perennial powerhouse and no matter where they are currently in the rankings they are one of the top teams in the country.  I think after the first weekend they have solidified in their play and will be a handful for anybody in our league.  That being said we need to focus on our side of the net and improve on some of the things we struggled with in Calgary in order to compete.”

This weekend’s matches will be shown live: on http://canadawest.tv.

The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack cross country team will participate in the second of their three major races of the 2014-15 season this weekend.

The team will be heading to Clearbrook Park in Abbotsford on Saturday for the British Columbia Cross Country Championships on Saturday (Oct 25).

WolfPack head coach Jack Miller (Andrew Snucins photo)

“This is an open championship with a large number of age groups from nine years old to Masters,” said WolfPack head coach Jack Miller.  “ As far as I know, we will be competing with runners from UVIC, Trinity Western, UBC and Simon Fraser.”

Melissa Ryeo (Andrew Snucins photo)

The WolfPack will be taking 18 runners to Saturday event-11 of them being women.

Rachel Lobay (Andrew Snucins photo)

Miller feels his top runners will be Alesha Miller (Valleyview, AB), Rachel Lobay (Kelowna, BC) and Melissa Ryeo (Chilliwack, BC)  for the women and Evan Hall (Kamloops, BC) , Riley Kouwenhoven (Kamloops, BC)  and Ryan Pidhirniak (Coquitlam, BC) .

Ryan Pidhirniak (Andrew Snucins photo)

“Training the past two weeks has been very good,” said the coach. “We have been focusing mainly on speed and endurance.”

Riley Kouwenhoven (Andrew Snucins photo)

This race will be the last for the WolfPack before they head to Newfoundland and the CIS Nationals on November 8 th.

The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men’s basketball team will be heading to Kelowna for a pair of games this week but none are against the University of British Columbia Okanagan Heat.

The WolfPack (2-1) will take on the Laurentian University Voyageurs on Friday (Oct 24) and the Trinity Western University Spartans on Saturday (Oct 25).  Both games will be played at UBCO.

Brett Parker lays it up (Allen Douglas photo)

Thompson Rivers head coach Scott Clark says the preseason portion of the schedule comes down to familiarizing the players with the team’s system. “You are bringing in new players and having them understand what the ‘standard of play’ is.  We are still trying to define that and have them understand that and define roles.  When you have some new pieces, you are trying to bring those pieces together.”

Josh Wolfram takes on two defenders (Allen Douglas photo)

Clark liked the fact that last weekend (Oct 17-18) in a loss to Windsor and a 12 point victory over Western Ontario—the team came back the second night.  “I think we still need to know the value of the basketball. If we learn that value and understand it, night in and night out we should be able to compete. If we don’t it will be difficult.”

Victor Aguero to the hoop (Allen Douglas photo)

The ‘value of the basketball’ refers to turnovers and not giving the ball away.

Gerard Gore battles (Allen Douglas photo)

The coach says while they will look at some video of both Laurentian and Trinity Western before the games, this point of the year is devoted mostly on his own squad.   “When you do some scouting, it is for their (his own team) understanding that they have to have the ability to focus and make adjustments before game time based upon personnel.  Those adjustments would have been practiced before. But you are trying to give them a leg up mentally.  You want to give them (the players) a slight advantage.”

Brett Rouault drives (Allen Douglas photo)

The WolfPack have one more exhibition game: Saturday November 1^st in Spokane Washington against the NCAA Div I Gonzaga University Bulldogs.

They open up their 2014-15 Canada West season on Friday November 7 th at the Tournament Capital Centre against the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves.  Tip off will be 8 pm.

Isaac Smit (left) and Cole Hanson (right) are just two of a number of WolfPack rookies on the men’s volleyball team who have come to TRU to continue their studies and athletic careers. Tayla Scott of the Student Newspaper The Omega profiled them and their relationship with their former coach now teammate, Matt Krueger:

http://truomega.ca/2014/10/21/playing-together-again/

The WolfPack have over 150 athletes on their various teams.  Kevin Brechin has to take care of them all.  He is the program’s athletic therapist.  This year, he has a couple of former athletes helping him out.  Tayla Scott wrote about them in the TRU student newspaper  “The Omega”.

http://truomega.ca/2014/10/21/supporting-from-the-sidelines/

By: Adam Williams

(Posted with Permission of Kamloops This Week)

It had been more than two years since the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women’s vol- leyball team put one in the win column.

Before TRU won its first match of the season on the weekend against the University of Calgary Dinos — 3-2 on Friday, Oct. 17 — it had gone 49 straight matches, dating back to 2012, without winning a third set.

The club’s last victory had come on Feb. 10, 2012, a 3-2 defeat of the UBC-Okanagan Heat of Kelowna.

TRU now has that slump behind it and is relieved to be able to move on.

Kaitlin Lomas (Andrew Snucins photo)

“That was beautiful, to be able to know that we can win, we can compete with these teams, just to settle the years of people shoving it in our faces that we hadn’t won yet,” second-year middle Kaitlin Lomas said.

“Now we can say, ‘Hey, we have won, we are a good team and we can compete in the CIS.’”

Lomas was a part of the 2013-2014 WolfPack that went winless in 18 games under for- mer head coach Keith Lundgren before current skipper Chad Grimm took over.

She said the attitude of, and atmosphere around, the team have changed under its new bench boss.

Players now have more freedom to make adjustments based on what they’re seeing on the court and there is more open communication.

Playing at TRU has become a lot more fun, too.

Lomas hits (Andrew Snucins photo)

“It was a relief, for sure, to have that win. [There’s] less pressure,” Lomas said.

“But, it also creates more pressure in that now that we have that win, we have to continue the competitiveness and create more wins.” The WolfPack will open their home schedule at the Tournament Capital Centre this weekend, facing the UBC Thunderbirds (2-2) tonight (Oct. 24) and tomorrow.

The games will get underway at 6 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.

Grimm is hoping his club can keep things rolling, with a little bit of confidence to work with.

The coach said this is only the beginning of what fans can expect from the women’s squad this season.

WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm (Andrew Snucins photo)

“I think we have a lot of new faces, but also a lot of girls that had a lot of potential and just were maybe not in a space that they could just go out and play the game,” he said.

“They’re [fans] not going to see a team go out on the floor and not be competitive with whoever we meet.”

Pack men seek first victory tonight

Coming off a trip to the Canada West Final Four last season, the WolfPack men’s volleyball team’s 0-4 start to 2014-2015 has been less than ideal.

The club is hop- ing it can turn things around this weekend, when it opens its home schedule against the UBC Thunderbirds at the TCC.

The Pack lost their first two series of the season on the road, falling to the Trinity Western University Spartans and the University of Calgary Dinos.

But, the team has also been dealing with some issues beyond its control.

WolfPack head coach Pat Hennelly (Allen Douglas photo)

“We’ve certainly had our share of injuries,” WolfPack head coach Pat Hennelly told KTW.

“Getting a stable six out has been an issue.

“At one point, in Calgary, we had four first-year guys on the floor and I didn’t proj- ect any of them to even travel this year.”

Brad Gunter at Canada West playoffs last year (Scott Stewart photo)

Most notably, the WolfPack have been playing without two of their main offensive weapons — outside hitter Casey Knight and right-side Brad Gunter.

Casey Knight in air ready to hit (Allen Douglas photo)

Knight seems to be on his way to making his return — Hennelly said the 6-foot-8 vet- eran started jumping in practice this week and may be available for the weekend.

Gunter, however, is out for another two to four weeks. His finger was in a brace when he spoke to KTW, having been dislocated — the bone broke through the skin — in the team’s first series against Trinity.

“These past two weekends have been a real struggle,” Gunter said. In 2013-2014, he led the nation in kills per set (5.31) and points (404.5).

“I can’t wait to get back. I think we’ll do so much better.”

The lone positive to come from the WolfPack’s shorthanded start might be the emergence of some of the squad’s younger members.

Randy Grundmann (Andrew Snucins photo)

Hennelly described second-year hitter Randy Grundmann as the team’s best player thus far, which bodes well for the future and the 6-foot-4 Winnipeg native.

Stuart Richey (Andrew Snucins photo)

He will slot into vacancies left by retiring veterans Knight and Stuart Richey atthe end of this season.

Grundmann leads the team in kills (48) and points (53.5).

“It’s obviously the beginning of the season.

“We’re trying to fix a few things that we worked on in the pre-season. We have two big injuries to Gunter and Casey. But, I think it’s good for our team,” fifth-year libero Matt Krueger said, evaluating team’s start.

“It has other stepping up into positions they normally wouldn’t. So, I think, in the long run, it’s going to be beneficial for our guys.”

The WolfPack will play their home opener tonight (Oct. 24) at 7:45 p.m. in the TCC against UBC. The teams will play a rematch tomorrow night at 6:45 p.m.

By: Adam Williams

(Posted With Permission Of Kamloops This Week)

From provincial champions to divi- sion basement dwellers, the transition to the ranks of Canadian Interuniversity Sport hasn’t been easy for the TRU WolfPack’s soccer programs.

But, the Kamloops clubs showed enough promise in their inaugural seasons to leave their coaches eager for the future.

WolfPack mens soccer coach John Antulov (Andrew Snucins photo)

“I think, overall, I was fairly happy with the season in regards to the progress of a lot of players,” men’s head coach John Antulov said. “I understood going into the season it was going to be a tough go.”

The WolfPack men finished the season with a 2-8-2 record, picking up both victories and a tie in three of their final four matches.

Antulov said he spoke with Alan Errington, head coach of the University of the Fraser Valley Cascades, earlier this week about the WolfPack’s start.

The Cascades’ bench boss praised the Pack, noting that in his first season in the CIS, UFV “got hammered.”

Oriol Torres vs UBCO this yea (Andrew Snucins photo)

“He said, ‘Put it into perspective. You got two wins, two ties, four other games were very close, so you should be happy with that,’” Antulov recalled.

Cole Hooper celebrates his first Canada West goal (Andrew Snucins photo)

On paper, the WolfPack has some work to do as the club gave up the second most goals in the Pacific division (24), while scoring the fewest markers (five).

But, the club should be able to learn from its first season in Canada’s elite ranks, as the vast majority of its players will return next season.

It’s a similar situation for TRU’s 1-10-1 women’s team, which scored nine goals (tied for the division’s fewest) while surrendering 25 markers (second-most).

In better times-Tom McManus applauded his team after winning CCAA Bronze (Andrew Snucins photo)

“Obviously, it was not what we had hoped to get, but it was kind of what I expected, with the way the other teams were playing and everything, the physicality of it,” women’s head coach Tom McManus said.

Fifth year players Bronwyn Crawford and Emily Edmundson (Andrew Snucins photo)

The women, too, will return most of their roster, but will part ways with long-time starting goalkeeper Emily Edmundson and former Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association all-Canadian Bronwyn Crawford.

McManus said a scorer, as well as a keeper, will top his off- season recruiting wish list.

Taylor Miller vs UNBC this year (Andrew Snucins photo)

“It was a good year,” McManus said, echoing Antulov’s sentiments.

“I wasn’t thoroughly disappointed. [I was] disappointed because I hate losing, but it’s one of those things.

“We’ll regroup and be ready for next year.”

The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men’s basketball team have moved to 3 and 1 in pre season play.

The WolfPack went to the University of British Columbia Okanagan to meet up with the Laurentian Univesity Voyageurs on Friday (Oct 24).

Thompson Rivers came away with a 69-51 victory.

TRU was up 28-23 at the half.

Josh Wolfram goes up against two defenders (Allen Douglas photo)

The ‘Pack were led by Josh Wolfram (4^th year, forward, Kamloops, BC) who had 14 points and eight rebounds.

Victor Aguero to the hoop (Allen Douglas photo)

Victor Aguero (3^rd year, guard, Vancouver, WA) added 14 points.

Sean Price (Allen Douglas photo)

Sean Price (3rd year, guard, Vancouver, WA) had 11 points and nine rebounds.

The WolfPack will play the Trinity Western University Spartans on Saturday (Oct 25).   TRU will open its 2014-15 Canada West regular season on Saturday, November 7 th at the Tournament Capital Centre when they face the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves.  Tip off is 8 pm.

The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men’s volleyball team had their traditional capacity crowd for their Canada West home opener.  Sadly, the large crowd (almost 18 hundred), saw some entertaining action but the hometown boys came out on the short end.

The University of British Columbia Thunderbirds downed the WolfPack 3-2.  The scores were 21-25,25-20,24-26,25-22,15-10.

The ‘Pack fall to 0 and 5 on the season while UBC moves to 4 and 1.

“I thought our guys did great and competed,” said WolfPack head coach Pat Hennelly. “There are things you would like to change but I think it’s the best we have played all year.  It was a huge crowd which was nice to see.  Casey Knight had a pretty solid performance after being out for five weeks.”

Knight (5^th year, outside hitter, Salt Spring Island, BC) led the WolfPack with 20 kills in 51 opportunities with a service ace, three digs and two block assists.   He was returning after an ankle injury.

Knight was named the TRU Bookstore/McDonalds “Leader of the Pack” Player of the Match.

“He looked good,” assessed Hennelly. “He gave us a boost. We are looking to get more of our players back soon.”

“I thought Thompson Rivers started strongly but didn’t finish and they let us back into the match, said UBC bench boss Richard Schick.  “We took care of some of the simple things on our side of the court like passing.  Our passing improved through the match and I thought theirs worsened.”

“There are times when we are indecisive and it costs you,” Hennelly stated. “It costs you blocking, costs you setting and costs you on the service line. When you are decisive, good things happen.  We just need to trust our instincts and what we are working on. Overall, tonight was a great effort.  There were ups and downs on both sides.  We seemed to stall out in the fourth set.”

In that fourth set, TRU was leading 7-0 before losing to UBC.  That comeback was the highlight of the match as far as Schick was concerned. “Coming back from that deficit showed the character we have.”

UBC was led by Mac McNicol(3^rd year, outside hitter, Calgary, AB) with 20 kills in 35 chances. He had a team high eight digs and three block assists.

Byron Keturakis (1^st year, setter, Surrey, BC) had 27 assists and five digs while Milan Nikic (4^th year, setter, Calgary,AB) added 26 assists for the Thunderbirds.

After Knight,  Randy Grundmann (2^nd year, outside hitter, Winnipeg, MB) had 14 kills in 36 swings for the WolfPack.

Graham Stoliker (4^th year setter, Surrey,BC) had 44 assists.

Matt Krueger (5^th year, libero, Abbotsford, BC) contributed 13 digs.

The two teams will wind up their weekend series on Saturday (Oct 25) at the Tournament Capital Centre. Game time is 6:45 pm and will be carried on Canada West TV.

The WolfPack will be celebrating “Alumni night.”

The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women’s volleyball team treated a large home crowd to a treat.

The upstart ‘Pack downed the perennially national champion University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 3-2 Friday (Oct 24) night at the Tournament Capital Centre.

The scores were 25-17,25-12,22-25,16-25,15-11.

Thompson Rivers moves to 2 and 3 on the season. Both victories have come in five sets. The Thunderbirds fall to 2 and 3 on the year as well.”

“Anytime UBC comes in here and you get a win it’s a successful night,” stated WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm, himself a UBC Alumna. “I thought we started pretty well. But we started to look around a little bit. UBC stepped it up defensively in the third set as any good team does and we fought it out in the fifth.”

“My job as coach is to develop execution,” said UBC coach Doug Reimer. We didn’t execute that well. I did like the fact we were down 2-0 and playing very poorly to rally. We were down 9-2 in the fifth and came back.”

Grimm thought his team prevailed in the fifth after telling his girls beforehand that they were in a moment and they should enjoy it. “We can’t be worried about the result. We have to enjoy the moment. We had our home crowd and we made it to the fifth set. It is a moment that you should savor. They did a really good job of getting the blank look off their face and enjoying it.”

TRU was led by Iuliia Pakhomenko (3rd year, outside hitter, Donetsk, Ukraine). She was named the TRU Bookstore/McDonalds “Leader of the Pack” Player of the Match for 21 kills in 40 chances with two service aces, 10 digs, a solo block and two block assists.

“Offensively she was cruising and did a pretty decent job serving,’ said Grimm about Pakhomenko. “ She gives us a bit of confidence. They know that come crunch time that she will be there and be aggressive. She is not afraid to take the game in her hands. Kudos to her for doing that.”

Brianne Rauch (3rd year, outside hitter, Kimberly, BC) had 11 kills in 25 opportunities with three service aces and 15 digs.

Kara Twomey (3rd year, setter, Winnipeg, MB) had 43 assists and five digs.

UBC was led by Rosie Schlaginweit (5th year, right side, Abbotsford, BC) with 12 kills in 37 swings with 11 digs.

Alissa Coulter (4th year, left side, Calgary, AB) had 10 kills in 31 chances with two service aces , four digs and four block assists.
Alessandra Gentile (2nd year, setter, Port Moody, BC) had 37 assists.

The two teams will close out their weekend series on Saturday (Oct 25 th). Game time at the TCC will be 5 pm and the match will be carried on Canada West TV.

On Saturday, the WolfPack will honor their ‘alumni’.

The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men’s basketball team played .500 this weekend in a series of exhibition games at the University of British Columbia Okanagan.

On Saturday (Oct 25), the WolfPack met up with the Trinity Western University Spartans of Langley, BC and lost 81-76.

That dropped the ‘Pack’s pre-season record to 3 and 2 with one game to go.

Wolfpack head coach Scott Clark (Andrew Snucins photo)

“We were outscored 28-14 in the third quarter and that did us in,” said Thompson Rivers head coach Scott Clark. “And we were out rebounded 50-41”.

Reese Pribilsky (Allen Douglas photo)

Reese Pribilsky (4th year, guard, Victoria, BC) led the way on offense for TRU with 19 points and five rebounds.

Josh Wolfram (Allen Douglas photo)

Josh Wolfram (4th year, forward, Kamloops, BC) had 11 points and eight rebounds.

The WolfPack close out their pre-season on Saturday, November 1st when they travel to Spokane to meet up with the NCAA Division I Gonzaga Bulldogs.
TRU opens its 2014-15 Canada West regular season on Friday November 7 th when they face the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves. Tip-off is 8 pm at the Tournament Capital Centre.

The inconsistencies continue for the rebuilding Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women’s volleyball team.

One night after a five set victory over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds, Thompson Rivers fell to the visiting Thunderbirds 3-0 at the Tournament Capital Centre.  The scores were 25-14,25-18, 25-17.

The WolfPack fall to 2 and 4 on the season while UBC moves to .500 at 3 and 3.

“I think mentally we didn’t look like we were ready to play tonight, “said WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm. “We came out a little bit flat and we never found our rhythm. We have not been able to battle two nights in a row. I don’t think it’s about the wins and losses. I just don’t think we are being that consistant.”

Grimm says the consistency will come as the players evolve. “Part of it is that we need to be able to compete both nights. I think in the past there has not been very many tightly contested matches. For them to get over the hump and do that every night is going to take a little bit of experience and more mental fortitude.”

“I was really pleased with how we started,” said UBC head coach Doug Reimer. “ I can’t think of anybody in our line up who didn’t come out to play today. We set a good tone in the first set and were consistent. I thought our hitters were really assertive and made good choices. All the things that we didn’t do so well yesterday. I thought TRU played very well yesterday and I thought they brought as much. “

UBC was led by Alissa Coulter (4^th year, left side, Calgary, AB) with 13 kills in 27 chances with a service ace, eight digs and two block assists.

Alessandra Gentile (2^nd year, setter, Port Moody, BC) had 29 assists.

Cara Rosehill (3^rd year libero, Kailua, HI) had 10 digs.

For Thompson Rivers, Iuliia Pakhomenko (3^rd year, middle, Donetsk, Ukraine) had nine kills in 22 opportunities with five digs and a block assist.

Krista Hogewoning (4^th year, outside hitter, Delta, BC) had six kils in 23 swings with five digs and a block assist.

The TRU Bookstore/McDonalds “Leader of the Pack” was Morgan Kolasa (2^nd year, outside hitter, Calgary, AB).  She had three kills in 10 chances with a dig and three block assists.

Kara Twomey (3^rd year, setter, Winnipeg, MB) had 12 assists with Katie Woo (3^rd year, setter, Surrey, BC) added seven assists. Both players had three digs.

Reimer says the 2014-15 Canada West season has been a challenge for his club, which is perennially one of the top teams in the nation.  “ Earlier start to the season and we are missing numerous bodies. I am not using that as an excuse but we had to use different line ups and do different things. We have had a real mix with players in a lot of new roles. Challenge is a very good word to use.”

The WolfPack continue their homestand as the University of Regina Cougars come to town on October 31 st and November 1 st.  Game time on Halloween at the TCC will be 6 pm.

The Thunderbirds return to the War Memorial Gym to entertain the UBCO Heat in a pair of matches next weekend.

The Volleyball gods have continued to frown upon the Thompson Rivers University men’s team.

The WolfPack dropped their third straight five straight match on Saturday (Oct 25) at the Tournament Capital Centre. Thompson Rivers lost 3-2 to the visiting University of British Columbia Thunderbirds.
The scores were 24-26,31-29,25-19,28-26,18-16. TRU is winless in six starts while UBC moves to 5 and 1 on the season.

“It was a good game against a tough team,” said WolfPack head coach Pat Hennelly. “ It was a two point match. We are competing well. Today was much better than yesterday in the fifth set. It is tough. We have spent a lot energy today and climbed a huge mountain. We weren’t rewarded.”

Hennelly continued: “ I wish this effort was here against Trinity and Calgary. We would have a W in the column. We are doing the right things right now. We played close to our best volleyball in this one and lost a two setter to what I think is a very good team. The message is that we have to keep this going and keep competing. We can’t worry about results now. It is easy to panic but the last few matches we have gotten better and that is what you want as a coach.”

“ It is kind of blur right now-the heat of the moment,” explained UBC head coach Richard Schick. “ We are trying to get our guys to live in the moment. Kind of like Chad Grimm (TRU women’s head coach)’s quote from Friday. You gotta discard the not so good stuff as quickly as possible but you can’t enjoy the good for too long either. You have to concentrate on the present. I thought Thompson Rivers played well. They had a good game plan and served the ball tough. Serve/receive is so key. “

The match’s top offensive player was Casey Knight (5th year, outside hitter, Salt Spring Island, BC). He had 30 kills in 68 opportunities with 11 digs. It was his second strong match since returning to the lineup after twisting his ankle five weeks ago.

“I don’t know how Casey is doing it,” Hennelly explains. “ He has to be exhausted. He hasn’t even put in more than an hours’ worth of practice. He is a fifth year guy and he is giving everything he has. Kevin Brechin (TRU’s Athletic Therapist) and the medical staff is keeping him on the court. It is nice to see. He put in a gutsy effort.”

Daniel Eikland Rod (3rd year, middle, Oz, Norway) had 12 kills in 36 chances with two assits, a service ace, six digs and three block assists.

Graham Stoliker (4th year, setter, Surrey, BC) was named the TRU Bookstore/McDonalds “Leader of the Pack” Player of the Match. He had 53 assists, 14 digs, a service ace and four block assists. “ I thought he did a great job distributing the ball,” the WolfPack coach said. “ A lot of pressure on Graham this year and he has big shoes to fill (Hennelly referring to the graduation of Colin Carson of Prince George, BC who was a Canada West all-star). We have high expectations and he is really starting to come around and take care of the ball when he is serving. He took care of things on defense.”

UBC had four players in double figures attack wise led by Mac McNicol (3rd year, outside hitter, Calgary, AB) with 16 in 35 chances with five digs, two solo blocks and four block assists. Ben Chow (4th year, outside hitter, Surrey, BC) and Irvan Brar (2nd year, outside hitter, Surrey, BC) each had 14 kills while Alex Russell (4th year, middle, Surrey, BC) chipped in with 11. Chow had a team high 13 digs.

Milan Nikic (4th year, setter, Calgary, AB)had 45 assists.

Schick says the sweep over TRU was key in the very tight Canada West: “It is massive. When you look at both these teams on paper coming in, with TRU being winless and us being at 3 and 1 you would think one team would come in and get out of here with a couple of easy wins. But the Canada West isn’t like that. There is a lot of good teams and a lot of good players. Obviously with Casey Knight getting back for these guys and having Brad Gunter (CIS Player of the Year) still out it provided a different dynamic for them and for us. They switched up their line up and they have a lot of different guys who can play a lot of different roles. They take a lot of pride in that and so do we on our side.”

The WolfPack continue their home stand with two matches (Oct 31 and Nov 1) at the Tournament Capital Centre against the University of Regina Cougars. UBC returns home to entertain the UBCO Heat next weekend.

SIDE OUTS: Before the match, as part of TRU Alumni night the team honored former outside hitter Robin Schoebel. Schoebel was a Canada West and CIS all-star and one of the first international players to attend Thompson Rivers.

The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack cross country team excelled at this weekend’s BC championships. The championships were held at Clearbrook Park in Abbotsford, BC on Saturday (Oct 25).

Conlan Sprickerhoff (Andrew Snucins photo)

Head coach Jack Miller had this assessement: “We had two men and two women in the Junior category (18 and 19 years old). Men: Riley Kouwenhoven and Conlan Sprickerhoff – they were both in the top half of the competition and posted very good times for the 7 KM race – Riley 25:24 and Conlan 25:28. Riley is a first year team member and Conlan is in his second year with the team and this is his best result to date.

Kennedy Coombes (Andrew Snucins photo)

In the Junior women’s category, Nicole Veremy and Kennedy Coombes ran very well, finishing 6th and 7th overall. With her 6th place finish, Nicole should be selected for the Junior Women’s team to represent BC at the Canadian Cross-Country Championship in Vancouver in late November.

Alesha Miller (Andrew Snucins photo)

In the Senior women’s race, our top three women finishers were Alesha Miller, Melissa Ryeo and Tiffany Adams. Of note was the performance of Alesha who was ahead of 9 out of 10 of the runners from our rival UBCO. Also running for TRU were Trine Flecks, Stephanie Johannesen, Christa Miller, Kayla Morrison and Lexi Thorne.

Evan Hall (Andrew Snucins photo)

In the Senior men’s race TRU was well represented by Evan Hall, Sunny Dulay, Ryan Pidhirniak, Rich Sullivan and Pablo Ulloa. Notable performances were Evan Hall who led the team, Ryan Pidhirniak (who has been injured much of the season) having a great return-to-competition race finishing second to Evan and Pablo Ulloa who continues to improve every race finishing third amongst team members.”

WolfPack head coach Jack Miller (Andrew Snucins photo)

Miller will be selecting the five men and five women who will represent TRU as the CIS championships set for November 8 th at Memorial University in St. John’s Newfoundland.

It’s on the road for the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men’s basketball team as they close out their 2014 Canada West preseason.

The ‘Pack will be heading to Spokane, Washington this weekend to take on the NCAA Division I  Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday (Nov 1).

“There is obviously a connection between our institution and theirs,” said WolfPack head coach Scott Clark. “I spoke to Ken (Olynyk, TRU Athletic and Recreation Director) and he is responsible for organizing it.”

Olynyk’s son Kelly played at Gonzaga before being drafted by the NBA’s Boston Celtics where he currently is starting his second professional season.

The WolfPack enter this game with a record of four wins and two losses. They know that they will have a big challenge.

“It is a chance for us to get better,” Clark says. “Obviously they are a very good basketball team.  You know you are going to have to be at your best and can’t take a second off.  The hope is that you compete and you are able to take from playing the best and translate that experience into later contests.  That is why playing against great competition, it allows you to get better.”

Clark isn’t dismissing the fact that his squad will likely be in a psychological disadvantage to begin the game playing in Gonzaga’s large arena and having a big crowd on hand.

“That will the biggest crowd that each of our athletes have every played in front of. From that perspective, there is going to be some of that. But once the ball goes up , you tend to concentrate on the game itself. During my time at Simon Fraser, I must have been involved in over 40 NCAA Division I contests on the road.   Once the ball is up, you forget the crowd is around you.”

Clark believes his team has improved every outing since the beginning of pre-season, but they have a long way to go. “In the weeks we have played, we have taken a step forward. We are a long ways away from a finished product.  I am a concrete, sequential guy.  We have a ten step process that we are looking to have a good grasp of in order to be a good team. I think we are about a three or four.  Whether you get to rung 10 is hard to say. But I think the guys are willing.  I know we will continue to make progress. If we get to that point we are going to be a pretty tough out.”

The WolfPack open their 2014-15 Canada West campaign on Friday November 7 th at the Tournament Capital Centre against the University of Northern British Columbia Timberwolves.  Tip off is 8pm.

With the start of their 2014-15 Canada West regular season just over a week away, The WolfPack basketball teams held their media day on Tuesday (Oct 28).