KAMLOOPS, B.C. – In the final contest of the regular season, the UBC Thunderbirds saw their five-match win streak snapped by the host Thompson Rivers WolfPack in four sets Saturday afternoon in Kamloops.
Despite being the less efficient team in attack on the night, the WolfPack were able to pick up the victory (25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 25-22) thanks to racking up eight service aces and 17 blocks while also finding a way to win timely points at the end of close sets.
Anton Napolitano had a team-high 10 kills in the final home game of his WolfPack career but it was a truly balanced attack for TRU. Sam Flowerday had nine kills, Thundersky Walkingbear eight and Corbin Ockerman seven. Defensively, Kyle Taylor led the way with seven digs while Michael Svab and Napolitano had six and five assisted blocks respectively.
With UBC resting some key players with the Canada West playoffs right around the corner, mainstay
Cole Brandsma had 22 kills on his 41 swings to carry the torch for the T-Birds.
Duncan Clark added eight while
Gerard Murray had a pair of service aces.
Zarley Zalusky racked up two solo blocks and four assisted blocks for UBC.
In what will be the final home game of his storied WolfPack career Napolitano led the way for TRU in the first set with four kills. Brandsma had five kills on his nine swings but the WolfPack showed just a little more composure when it mattered most to take the 25-23 victory. With TRU leading 24-23 Flowerday finished things off with a massive swing.
UBC took their lone set victory of the night in the second.
Brandsma had six kills while both Murray and Clark added three as the Thunderbirds hit .387% as a team in the frame. Ockerman answered with four for the 'Pack but a massive 21-14 UBC lead proved to be too much to overcome. Brandsma scored the final two points of the set for the T-Birds to lead the visitors to the 25-23 victory.
TRU refused to let the game slip away however and dominated the third set, eventually taking it by a 25-19 margin.
A massive pancake dig from Taylor was one of the turning points in the fourth set for TRU. With the set tied at 16-16 the Thunderbirds went on a three-point run powered by a block and a kill courtesy of Zalusky. With the set slipping away, Taylor and the WolfPack defence found an answer.
The WolfPack ended the match on a 9-3 run during which Napolitano went on a four-point serving run.
With their playoff fates already sealed heading into the weekend, the result today will see UBC finish the season with a 10-6 record while the WolfPack wrap up 2021-22 with a mark of 6-10.
UBC will head to Edmonton next weekend as the second seed from the West Division while the WolfPack will remain in B.C. after finishing fourth in the West.
The top two seeds from each of the three playoff pools will advance to the second round set for the following weekend.
