By Larry Read - Athletics

Men’s volleyball drops four close sets to Trinity Western

Feb 23, 2018 | 5:52 AM

LANGLEY, BC—The result might not have been what they wanted, but the tenacity of the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack was evident in the first of the best of three Canada West men’s volleyball quarterfinal.

The Pack, ranked 10th in the most recent USPORTS top 10 rankings, fell 3-1 to the Canada West regular season champs and number two USPORTS ranked Trinity Western University Spartans.   The scores on Thursday (Feb 22) at the Langley Events Center were 26-24,22-25,25-20,25-21.

Thompson Rivers welcomed the return of Tim Dobbert. He led them offensively with 22 kills in 54 chances.   Eric Loeppky was the top point getter for the Spartans with 20 kills in 44 opportunities.

SYNOPSIS:

The WolfPack got to the technical time out first in the opening set (16-15). They were led offensively by Dobbert with six kills in 14 swings.   Jordan Foot (5th year, middle, Prince George, BC) had two kills in as many attempts.   Jesse Elser led the Trinity offense with four kills in five chances.

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The second set saw TRU down early 4-0, but the WolfPack scored three in a row to go into the technical time out again on top (16-15). Tied at 17, Thompson Rivers rattled off four straight points to go ahead and win the set.  Dobbert had five kills in that set for TRU. Foot, Josh Mullanney (3rd year, outside hitter, Calgary, AB) and Sam Taylor Parks (3rd year, middle, Kelowna, BC) all had two kills in that set.   Loeppky had five kills for Trinity Western.

Third set saw the Pack leading 5-3 early on and for the third straight set, were up at the technical time out (16-15).  The Spartans had 3-0 and 4-0 runs to lead 18-16 and 21-17 en route to the win. Loeppky led the Spartans with seven kills.

The fourth set saw Trinity leading 16-12 at the tech time out.

KEY STATS:

Scores by sets:

TRINITY WESTERN:     26    22   25   25  –3

TRU                               24    25    22   21  –1     

TRU:

Tim Dobbert (4th year, outside hitter, Aichelberg, Germany) 22 kills in 54 swings, 4 digs, 5 block assists

Jordan Foot (5th year, middle, Prince George, BC) 7 kills in 19 opportunities, 3 block assists, 2 digs, 1 solo block

Joshua Mullaney (3rd year, outside hitter, Calgary, AB) 5 kills in 15 chances, 3 digs, 2 block assists

Sam Taylor Parks (3rd year, middle, Kelowna, BC) 5 kills in 14 swings, 2 service aces, 5 block assists 1 solo block

Anton Napolitano (2nd year, setter, Victoria, Australia) 34 assists, 5 block assists, 4 digs

Landon Currie (1st year, libero, Vernon, BC) 9 digs

TRINITY WESTERN:

Eric Loeppky:20 kills in 44 opportunities, 4 digs, 1 solo block, 1 block assist

Jacob Kern: 11 kills in 25 swings, 6 digs, 1 block assist

Jesse: Elser: 10 kills in 17 attempts, 5 digs, 4 assists

Pearson Eshenko: 7 kills in 9 swings, 2 service aces, 3 digs, 2 block assists

Adam Schreimer: 41 assists, 10 digs, 2 block assists

QUOTES:

TRU head coach Pat Hennelly:

On Match:  “We had a great plan of attack early and Tim Dobbert really came to play. We lost some ground early and later defensively. Trinity Western really stepped up their defensive intensity. Overall, a much better performance from every player on our squad.  Charlie (Bringloe, 3rd year outside hitter, Waterloo, ON)  was excellent coming off the bench to serve and Smit (Isaac, 4th year, Kelowna, BC) also provided stability defensively.  Jordan (Foot) and Sam (Taylor Parks) were great in the middle.”

UP NEXT:

The WolfPack and Spartans will meet in game two of the best of best of three quarterfinal on Friday (Feb 23).  Match time is 7 pm PDT.  If a third and deciding match is needed, it will be played Saturday (Feb 24) at 8 pm. Both matches will be played at the Langley Events Centre.