EDMONTON – Fourth-year Sam Flowerday paced the Thompson Rivers WolfPack with a team-high 17 kills in a 3-2 (21-25, 25-23, 15-25, 31-29, 15-10) stunning comeback win over the Alberta Golden Bears Friday evening at the Saville Centre.
It was a wild affair, one that saw both teams control the game at various points. Flowerday and the WolfPack were the grittier team in this one, coming back from a 2-1 deficit to steal this one from the #2 U SPORTS ranked Golden Bears. While TRU was incredibly impressive, hitting an efficient .284 on the day, the Bears really struggled from the service line, especially at the end of the game as they recorded a cool 30 service errors.
The Wolfpack were led by Flowerday but saw great contributions from Rylan Ibbetson who recorded 13 kills, and setter Walker Sodaro who finished with 35 assists. The win sees them move to 2-1 in the new year, as the program attempts to climb from 12th place in the conference.
Heslinga, the reigning Player of the Year, continues a valiant follow-up campaign in which he leads the Canada West in Kills and Kills-per-Set. He had a game-high 25 kills, but also recorded another game-high of seven service errors. He sits at 99 aces in his career, one away from breaking the program record. Setter Luke Waddell, who finished with a game-high 47 assists and was instrumental to an Alberta attack that hit an astounding .323 on the day despite the serving struggles. Alberta moves to 11-4 on the year, and is in the midst of a three-game losing streak.
Alberta got off to a hot start in the opening frame, but a 6-0 run mindset from a blazing hot Wolfpack squad made it 14-10 for the visitors. It featured some terrific play from TRU setter Walker Sodaro, who had a nice attack and a couple of key blocks to help the run. However, Cherewaty and Heslinga would go on a run of their own to help Alberta come all the way back to a 25-21 win. Heslinga led all attackers with nine kills in the set, while Flowerday paced the Wolfpack with four.
The Bears again dug themselves into a hole early in the second, with the Wolfpack taking advantage to the tune of a 10-4 run to start the set off. A mid-set substitution of Jacob Sargeant helped inject some needed energy into the Alberta comeback effort, and they appeared to have the leg up with a 12-6 run to regain the lead at a 22-20 line. The Wolfpack would show some real grit from there, scoring four straight including an emphatic two blocks in a row, one a solo from Gavin Margerison, to win the set 25-23. Rylan Ibbetson, Flowerday, and Heslinga all tied for the set lead in kills with four, while the Wolfpack recorded six total blocks to stifle the Alberta attack.
The third set saw a more complete effort from the hosts, as they led the entire way en route to a 25-15 set win. While the Wolfpack kept it close to start the frame, the Bears ran away with it with an 8-2 run to finish the win. It was a depth effort from Alberta, as five starters had multiple kills in the frame leading to a scorching .583 hitting percentage.
The fourth set was easily the closest of the day, as the teams jockeyed all through the ‘teens in a set that featured a remarkable 19 tie scores and four lead changes. It got all the way to extras, where there was a remarkable six service errors from the two sides combined, and after one from Alberta TRU’s Margerison aced to win a wild one 31-29. Heslinga had eight kills, while the Wolfpack had all five non-special position starters record at least two kills.
The final frame started where it left off, with the Wolfpack carrying some strong momentum and the Bears unable to shake their woes from the service line. By mid-set, they had already recorded two errors and had an attack error to boot as TRU paced the frame 8-5. The Wolfpack attack was phenomenal from Flowerday et. al, as they hit .583 in the frame and shut the door on an Alberta blockline that attempted to get the Bears back in the game. He had a set-high three kills in the set as the ‘Pack led the whole way winning the final set 15-10.
The teams return to action tomorrow night in their last matchup of the 2024-25 regular season.
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