If the Thompson Rivers University Volleyball Program had an unofficial flag: It might be the red and white of Denmark.  After all, four members of their program know the national anthlem.  The WolfPack Women's Volleyball program has secured the services of 6-2 inch middle  Lykke Degner (pronounced Luka).

“She only started playing when she was 17...she just turned 20 this month,” says WolfPack coach Carrie Barrett.  “A couple of girls from her current club team (Holte IF) played with her in another sport and convinced her to tryout.”

That tryout turned out to be just what Degner needed.  In her first season she was voted the best middle player in Denmark  in the youth division. In 2006-07, Lykke’s team finished third in the elite division's national championship and she was voted  ‘Best New Player’.  And she’s spent the last two seasons on the Danish National Junior team where she was a team mate of current WolfPack setter Stine Bleeg Christainsen.

” She contacted me about the opportunity to play at TRU,” Degner says.  “I did some research about TRU and really liked what I saw. It’s a great school with a lot of great facilities for both sports and academics.”

Degner has seen her share of big moments in Volleyball.  Her Holte IF club just lost the national championship.  She represented Denmark at the 2007 World University Games in Bankok where she was part of the starting six.   She also played in a four nations tournament against Portugal, Great Britain and Luxembourg where her team was second and she was named player of the match against the Portuguese.    It's that experience that Barrett and the WolfPack hope to capitalize on.

“Her accolades speak for themselves,” states Barrett. “I would like to see her starting.  We need her physical presence.”  

The WolfPack coach admits that Degner needs to put on some muscle mass since the CIS season is more vigorous than the Danish Club team.   “It’s a great addition since we lost Laura Battison, which is devastating to our program,”  Barrett adds.   Battison, a 6-2 middle from Langley BC will be transferring to the University of Victoria to take Linguistics.  “It's great to have someone as experienced as Lykke and be able to contribute.”

Barrett believes that player for player, the WolfPack will be a better team than they were when they finished at 4 and 16. 

“That’s what we are working towards. Every year we want to get stronger and stronger.  The group we had last year were mainly freshmen.  The future is bright.  Those who understand where we are in the program know we are still in the infancy stage. Adding one or two dynamic athletes every year is where we want to go.” 

Lykke’s name in Danish means “Lucky”.  The WolfPack certainly hope with her addition, they certainly will be.

The addition of Degner: who went to an English school when she lived in the south of France for five years, will give the WolfPack four players from Denmark.   She and Christiansen are on the women's team. Martin Korsbak and Martin Stenderup play on the men's side.  Ironically: Degner and Korsbak are middles.  Christiansen and Stenderup are setters.