WolfPack seeded 5th going into Nationals

Pat Hennelly and his Thompson Rivers University WolfPack Mens Volleyball team are seeded 5 th going into their first CIS Championships. After a conference call by CIS officials earlier today (Sun Feb 24), the WolfPack have been put into the 5th position. This means they will face the 4th ranked and host team Laval Rouge et Or in their first match at the Nationals on Thursday (Feb 29). That'll be the feature game at 8 pm (EDT).

"The gym will be rocking," says Hennelly. "The support for the hometown team will be tremendous."

The Canada West champion Alberta Golden Bears, who have led the Nationwide rankings the last eight weeks have been seeded as the tournament favorites. Alberta is followed by the Ontario champion McMaster Marauders. The UBC Thunderbirds are rated third followed by Laval and TRU.

The rest of the rankings are Atlantic Champion Dalhousie Tigers in sixth sport, Defending National Champion Winnipeg Wesmen are 7 th and the Montreal Carabins are ranked 8 th. The tournament is a single knock out event.

Other first round matchups see McMaster taking on Winnipeg at 1 pm (EDT), UBC faces Dalhousie at 4 pm (EDT). Alberta will face Montreal at 6 pm (EDT).

Canada West schools have dominated mens Volleyball since the inaugural championship in 1966-67. They have claimed 35 of the 41 titles. Laval is the only team from outside of the Canada West to capture the Tantramar Trophy in the last 32 years. They won it three times (1990,1992 and 1994).

The WolfPack leave for Laval Tuesday night(Feb 26).They practice Monday (Feb 25) from 4-630 pm at the Tournament Capital Center. A reminder that this week is "TRU WolfPack Week" in Kamloops, residents are being urged to wear orange, black or a piece of clothing with the WolfPack logo on it to support the Mens Volleyball and the Badminton teams. Both are off to National Championships.