KAMLOOPS – An undefeated start to the season has seen the Thompson Rivers WolfPack women’s volleyball team earn recognition as one of the top squads in the nation in the U SPORTS Top 10 Rankings.
The WolfPack’s placement of fourth in the weekly rankings of the top volleyball squads in the country is a new program-high for a team that has started their season with back-to-back sweeps of the Manitoba Bisons and UBC Okanagan Heat.
“It’s early and I don’t put a whole ton of stock into the rankings at this time of the year, if we are there at the end of the season it’d be different, but at the end of the day I’m happy for the girls, I’m happy for the program,” said WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm. “Obviously the history of the program isn’t one where there was always the chance to be ranked in the top 10, and it took us a long time to get to that stage where we are ranked and it is hard to get there, so I’m happy for the program.”
Ranked ninth last week, the WolfPack leapt all the way up to fourth – and received a pair of first place votes – after defeating the Heat on home court last weekend. While Rida Erlalelitepe tied a Canada West record with 31 kills in a four set match to start the season, this past weekend featured star performances from multiple players.
“I’ve had a single-faceted team in the past, we had the best player in the country for three years with Iuliia Pakhomenko, and at that point in our program’s history we did not have the depth to use that strength to put us into the Top 10,” said Grimm. “All through the preseason we’ve been playing everyone a lot and we’ve continued to do that, I think we do have good depth that helps us be a strong team and not just a one or two person show.”
Through the opening four games, members of the ‘Pack are at or near the top of the conference in multiple stats. Erlalelitepe leads CW in kills-per-set with 4.57, Faith Christensen is first in blocks-per-set with 1.43 and Olivia Andulajevic tops the charts with 4.14 digs-per-set.
The ‘Pack have this weekend off for a bye but will be back in action Nov. 15-16 when they face the UFV Cascades in Abbotsford.
