Huskies defeat Wolfpack in five set thriller, move on to fifth place game at U SPORTS Championships

Esther Wildeboer recorded a match-high 19 kills to lead the Saint Mary’s Huskies to a hard-fought 3-2 victory (25-17, 25-16, 21-25, 13-25, 15-12) over the Thompson Rivers WolfPack in a consolation game Saturday at the 2026 U SPORTS Women’s Volleyball Championship, presented by Booster Juice, at the Langley Events Centre. 

2026 U SPORTS Women’s Volleyball Championship Highlights – CSF1: SMU vs. TRU ��

Faits saillants de la première demi-finale de consolation du Championnat féminin de volleyball U SPORTS 2026 : SMU contre TRU �� pic.twitter.com/z1LZ88jUzi

— U SPORTS (@USPORTSca) March 14, 2026

With the win, Saint Mary’s moves on to Sunday’s fifth-place game at noon, while Thompson Rivers sees its tournament run come to an end.

Saint Mary’s appeared in control early, capturing the opening two sets behind efficient attacking and strong serving pressure. Wildeboer paced the Huskies’ offence with timely finishes from the left side, while Alena Piatukhova — named Saint Mary’s player of the game — added 10 kills, two service aces and three blocks to help stake the Atlantic champions to the early advantage. 

Beautiful block by Esther Wildeboer and Jordin Parsons of SMU.

Superbe contre de Esther Wildeboer et Jordin Parsons du @SMUHuskies ! pic.twitter.com/qJWeWNGlul

— U SPORTS (@USPORTSca) March 14, 2026

Thompson Rivers responded in the middle stages of the match. The WolfPack tightened their defence and found their rhythm offensively in the third and fourth sets, evening the match at two sets apiece. Rida Erlalelitepe powered the comeback with 16 kills and three aces, while Keira Gent contributed 13 kills. Faith Christensen, named Thompson Rivers’ player of the game, added seven kills and three blocks in a strong two-way effort. 

The deciding fifth set remained tight throughout. Saint Mary’s leaned again on Wildeboer and Piatukhova for key points down the stretch, while setter Taylor Lougheed kept the offence balanced with 30 assists. The Huskies eventually closed out the match 15-12 to secure the victory. 

Libby Meldrum orchestrated the WolfPack attack with 47 assists, while Maria Dancheva chipped in nine kills and a match-high seven total blocks in the losing effort. 

Saint Mary’s (15-11, 10-10 AUS) advances to play for fifth place Sunday at noon PDT (4 p.m. ADT), while Thompson Rivers (16-11, 14-6 CW) concludes its season with the loss.

“We’re excited to live another day, we wanted to make sure that we played three games here, that was our goal, so it feels good to have one more,” said Huskies captain Taylor Lougheed post-game. “We wanted to act like there was no tomorrow, and leave yesterday’s game behind us, we knew that we are better than what we showed yesterday.”