WOLFPACK PLAYERS AMONG LEADERS IN FINAL CANADA WEST STATS BEFORE XMAS November 30, 2009
Posted by lread in Men's Basketball, Men's Volleyball, Women's Basketball, Women's Volleyball.1 comment so far
Gord Perrin
The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack basketball and volleyball teams are now on their Christmas breaks. The WolfPack have a number of players who appear among the top echelon in individual stats.
Gord Perrin (3rd year, outside hitter, Creston, BC) remains the Canada West men’s volleyball leader in kills and points. It is a position he has occupied since the first week of the regular season. The National Junior team’s co-captain has 167 kills in 33 games averaging 5.06 per game. He also has 185 points based on 167 kills, seven serving aces, seven solo blocks and eight block assists. That is an average of 5.61.
Rookie sensation Kevin Tillie (left side, Cagnes Sur Mer, France) is third in both those categories. Tillie has 137 kills in 33 games. That is an average of 4.15 per game. He also has 158 points based on the 137 kills, 13 service aces, two solo blocks and 12 block assists. Colin Carson (1st year, setter, Prince George, BC) is second in the Canada West in assists with 336. That is 11.09 per game.
In Basketball, Tracy Kocs (2nd year, forward, Coquitlam, BC) is the Canada West leader in Free Throws. She has made 17 of 19 through eight games. That is a success rate of .895. Teammate Jen Ju (2nd year, point guard, Vancouver, BC) is ninth in scoring averaging 14.5 points per game with 116 points through eight starts. She is also fifth in assists with 34 for an average of 4.25. Diane Schuetze (2nd year, post, Vernon, BC) is eighth in the Canada West in rebounds with 59 for an aveage of 7.4 per game. She hass 40 of her rebounds on defence.
Greg Stewart (4th year, forward, Kamloops, BC) is the Canada West leader in rebounds for the second week running. He enters the Christmas break averaging 10.4 per game with 83 through eight appearances. Of his rebounds, 61 occurred on defence. Teammate Jeff Friesen (5th year, forward, Duncan, BC) is fifth in rebounds averaging 8.3 with 66 rebounds. Friesen is second in the Canada West in free throws. He has made 26 of 30 for a success rate of .867. Fifth year guard Sean Garvey (Kamloops, BC) stands 10th in the Canada West in scoring with 122 points. He is averaging 15.3 per game. Garvey is second in the league in three point shots. He has made 24 for a success rate of 3.
In women’s volleyball, Anna Dyakiewicz (3rd year, outside hitter, Burnaby, BC) is second in the Canada West in kills. She has 134 through 36 games for an average of 3.72. Dyakieiwicz is fifth in scoring with an average of 4.12. She has 134 kills, seven serving aces to go with five solo and five assisted blocks. Third year outside hitter Amanda Frayne (Kamloops, BC) stands in a tie for ninth in kills with 110 through 36 games (average of 3.06). Frayne is ninth in points averaging 3.64 per game. She has 101 kills, five service aces, six solo blocks and nine block assists.
The WolfPack volleyball teams return to league play January 8 th in Manitoba. The basketball teams host Manitoba on January 8 th at the Tournament Capital Center.
WOLFPACK WOMENS VB ENTER CHRISTMAS BREAK WINLESS November 30, 2009
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Anna Dyakiewicz against Regina (A. Snucins)
It’s going to be a longer than usual Christmas break for the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women’s volleyball team. The days will likely be the same, but its the atmosphere going into it which will make it seem longer. The struggles of the ‘Pack continue. They were swept in both their weekend matches (Nov 28-29) by the hometown University of Winnipeg Wesmen.
On Grey Cup Sunday, the WolfPack played a little better but they were still beaten 3-1. The scores were: 15-25,2125,25-17,21-25. The WolfPack enter the Canada West break winless in ten starts while Winnipeg moves to 3 and 6.
“Again, we started battling in the third set,” said WolfPack head coach Cal Wohlford. “we had 14 kills in both the third and fourth sets. But we back down at points in the match when we should be taking the game to them”.
The hometown Wesmen got off to a great start in the first set opening up a 8-2 lead at the first technical and holding their ground to lead 16-10 at the second break. Winnipeg went on to win the opening set 25-15. The Wesmen had an attack percentage of .412 in the opening set. The Pack were at .152
“We are still tentative at key points of the match,” added Wohlford.
Set number two was closer than the first. Winnipeg held a slim lead 8-7 at the first technical break but the Wolfpack responded to take the lead at 16-15 at the second break. The Wesmen regrouped outscoring Thompson Rivers 10-5 down the stretch to win the second set 25-21.
Anna Dyakiewicz (3rd year,outside hitter, Burnaby, BC) led TRU a match high 15 kills in 49 attempts. She had a service ace and 11 digs and two solo blocks. “Anna got better in the third set,” said Wohlford. “But to be successfull, our team needs to have a lot of players on board. When Anna got kickstarted, we were waiting for people like Kelly (Asleson, 3rd year, outside hitter, Richmond, BC) and Amanda (Frayne, 3rd year, outside hitter, Kamloops, BC) to join in.” he added.
Asleson and Frayne each had 9 kills. Frayne added 11 digs. Marilla Vasconcellos (4th year, libero, Jundai, Brazil) added 20 digs. Asleson was in on three blocks.
The Wolfpack found their game in the third set leading at both technical timeouts 8-7 and 16-12. Thompson Rivers got themselves back in the match winning the third set 25-17.
Thompson Rivers carried the momentum for a good portion of the fourth set leading 8-5 and 16-14 at the set breaks. Winnipeg found their legs late in the set and back-to-back kills by Alix Krahn led the Wesmen to a 25-21 set win to conclude the match.
Winnipeg was led by the trio of Ariel Smith, Lauren Sears and Carleen Kruschel who all finished with 13 kills. Winnipeg had a strong serving match finishing with 11 service aces with Ariel Smith leading the way with three. Sonia Rossy led the Wesmen with 19 digs. Lauren Sears finished with three blocks.
Wohlford gave praise to 3rd year middle Vanessa Weibe (South Surrey, BC):”She played better tonite. She held their middle blocker in the third and fourth sets.”
He said the thorn in the WolfPack’s paw in the first half of the season has been unforced errors. “We gave up seven unforced errors in the last set. This is something that we have to work on as individuals. The players have to be aggressive all the time. Pulling back doesn’t work for you. There are right mistakes and wrong mistakes. In the first half of the year, we have been making too many bad mistakes.
The WolfPack are now off until January 8 th when they return to Manitoba to face the Bisons at the U of M.
(With help from University of Winnipeg Sports Information)
WVB REMAIN WINLESS AS THEY OPEN SERIES IN WINNIPEG November 30, 2009
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A. Snucins photo
It wasn’t the start that Cal Wohlford had hoped for. The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women’s volleyball team’s coach was hoping that a trip to the Manitoba capital would result in the club’s first victory of the season.
If it happens, it won’t be until tomorrow (Sun Nov 29). The WolfPack dropped a 3-1 decision to the host Winnipeg Wesmen in Canada West action on Saturday (Nov 28). The scores were 25-20,25-16,15-25,25-23.
“We didn’t start playing until the third set,” Wohlford lamented. ” We made a lot of unforced errors. It is very disappointing. Again, we didn’t come to play.”
Winnipeg was impressive in the opening set leading 8-7 at the first technical timeout but expanded their lead to 16-12 at the second break.
In the second set Winnipeg held a slim 8-7 lead at the first technical timeout but than broke the set wide open going on a 11-1 run to take a commanding 19-8 lead.
Thompson Rivers found their game in the third set leading 8-4 at the first technical and took control of the set leading 16-9 at the second break. The Wolfpack went on to win the third set 25-16.
“We got a strong game out of Kelly (Asleson, third year, outside hitter, Richmond, BC),” said Wohlford. Asleson had 13 kills and 18 digs. Anna Dyakiewicz (3rd year,outside hitter, Burnaby, BC) finished with 11. Vanessa Wiebe (3rd year, middle, Surrey, BC) was in on four blocks.
“We need Anna and Amanda (Frayne, 3rd year, outside hitter, Kamloops, BC) to step it up,” explained Wohlford. “Our middles were come-see-come-saw. People aren’t sticking to the game plan.”
The Wesmen had things go their way in the fourth set leading at both technical timeouts (8-7 and 16-13) on their way to a 25-23 fourth set win to conclude the match.
Lauren Sears (3rd year, middle, Truro, Man) and Alix Krahn (3rd year, middle, Winnipeg, Man) led the Wesmen with 12 kills. Sonia Rossy(1st year, left side, Winnipeg, Man) added 11 kills and a match high 19 digs. Krahn was in on nine blocks. Sears added four service aces.
The victory pushes Winnipeg’s record to 2-6. The Wolfpack remain winless at 0-9.
“We need to play better tomorrow,” said Wohlford. ” We have to come out with a more consistent effort if we want to have any hope of going strong in the second half of the season.”
The two teams will conclude their weekend series Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m CDT.
(with help from Winnipeg Wesmen Sports Information)
MBB FALL TO COUGARS IN OVERTIME November 30, 2009
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Jeff Friesen had a strong showing for TRU (A. Snucins photo)
It will go down in the record books as a loss, but if they gave points for effort, The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack would get something. The WolfPack took the hometown University of Regina Cougars to overtime, but fell short in Canada West University men’s basketball. The score was 95-88.
The Cougars outscored the WolfPack 15-8 in the extra period to up their record to 4 and 4.
Regina led 21-20 after the first quarter, but TRU outscored them 27-25 in the second to take a 47-46 lead into the dressing room at half time. The Cougars were up 64-61 at three quarter time. The ‘Pack outgunned the Cougars 16-13 in the final quarter in order to force overtime.
An extra session was only fitting for Saturday’s game, which featured 24 lead changes. The Cougars pulled away from Thompson Rivers early in the fourth quarter as they built up the only double-digit lead of the contest, but the WolfPack scored nine consecutive points to take a two-point lead with 90 seconds remaining in regulation.
With 30 seconds left, the Cougars tied the game at 77 after a Jamal Williams (5th year guard, Regina, Sask) tip-in just before the shot clock was about to expire. Jeff Lukomski (4th year guard, Regina, Sask) had a chance to win the game in regulation following a missed shot by Thompson Rivers, but his deep fadeaway two at the buzzer didn’t fall.The WolfPack had the chance to win the contest in regulation but both Connor Agnew (4th year forward, Prince Rupert, BC) and Jeff Friesen (5th year, forward, Duncan, BC) missed jumpers in the last minute
Friesen scored on the opening possession of overtime to give Thompson Rivers a two-point lead, but the Cougars responded with back-to-back three-pointers by Lukomski and Williams and were able to hold on to the lead for the remainder of the final period. Regina outscored the WolfPack by a 15-8 margin in overtime.
Paul Schubach ( 5th year guard, Regina, Sask)was 4-for-8 from beyond the arc and had a game-high 22 points for the Cougars. Williams (18 points, 16 rebounds) and Kris Heshka (16 points, 12 rebounds) both had double-doubles.
Friesen led Thompson Rivers in both points (21) and rebounds (16) despite being in foul trouble for the majority of the fourth quarter and overtime. Agnew was 6-for-7 from three-point land and ended up with 20 points, while Sean Garvey (16) and Greg Stewart (10) also scored in double figures for the WolfPack.
Lukomski had 20 points for the Cougars who turned over the ball 11 times to TRU’s 26.
The Pack, who enter the Christmas break winless in nine starts, were led by Friesen and his 21 points. He also had 16 rebounds: 12 of them on defence. Fifth year guard Sean Garvey (Kamloops, BC) had 16 points and seven rebounds (all on defence). Greg Stewart (4th year, forward, Kamloops, BC) contributed 10 points and five rebounds. Four of them were on defence.
Rookie Travis Beck (1st year, forward, Vernon,BC) added five rebounds. Three of them were on defence.
The WolfPack bench outscored the Cougar reserves 28-10.
TRU is off until December 28 th when they open up play at the Winnipeg Wesmen Classic Tournament. Their opposition will be the University of Laval Rouge et Or.
(with help from Regina Cougars Sports Information)
WOLFPACK DROP DECISION TO BOBCATS November 30, 2009
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Greg Stewart was the top scorer for TRU (Snucins photo)
“You are in trouble when you allow the opponent the chance to score on their first six possessions.” The words of Thompson Rivers University WolfPack men’s basketball coach Thom Gillespie. The WolfPack are still searching for their first victory of the 2009-10 Canada West season. They dropped their seventh straight game. This time, it was to the host Bobcats 93-97. Brandon raises its record to 4 and 5.
“We had no defensive focus or intensity,” explained Gillespie.” And we were playing a team which gained confidence every time they scored.”
On a positive note, Gillespie felt that the team did shoot the ball well at times and had some decent rebounding. The ‘Pack played better in the second half of the game and at one point, led by three points in the fourth quarter.
“But again, we couldn’t close it out,” said Gillespie.
Greg Stewart (4th year, forward, Kamloops, BC) had a double-double with 29 points and 10 rebounds. Connor Agnew (4th year, forward, Prince Rupert, BC) had 21 points coming off the bench.
The WolfPack have never beaten Brandon in their five years in the CIS.
The WolfPack play their final game before the Christmas break Saturday night (Nov 28) in Regina against the Cougars. Next home game for TRU is January 8 th at the Tournament Capital Center when Manitoba comes to town.
The TRU Men will play over the holiday season. They will return to Manitoba to play in the University of Winnipeg Wesmen Classic. Gillespie’s gang will face the University of Laval in their first game December 28 th.