Matthew Strader
Omega Sports Editor
September 27 2006

Friday night, the men's volleyball season opened up in the TRU gym with an exhibition match versus the UBC-Okanagan Lakers from Kelowna. It was dubbed the "K-Town Cup", an event which Head Coach Pat Hennelly hopes becomes annual.

This was the culminating point of a summer of successful recruiting by Hennelly which drew players from France, Denmark, Ontario and several from Alberta.

The 'Pack came out of the blocks slow and lost the first set 23-25, as the Lakers capitalized on TRU's poor blocking. With 19 of UBCO's 25 first-set points coming off of WolfPack errors, there wasn't anywhere they could go but up. A shuffle in the line-up and a shocked WolfPack squad woke up for the second set which they handled 25-20.

The vocal crowd in the gym pushed the 'Pack through the third set with another strong 25-20 win thanks to an unnamed basketball player who heckled two Laker players to the point of asking for substitution.

The fourth set saw both teams play their tidiest set and the 'Pack again leading at one point 22-15.

A couple of costly errors and excellent serving by the Lakers brought the game back to 23-21. French import Robin Schoebel scored in the clutch to lead the WolfPack to a 24-21 lead.

Another Laker ace brought the intense match to 24-22. UBCO could not handle anymore of the orange and blue as a set from Colin Jaggard to brother Troy was pounded down the line to give him his fourth and most important kill of the match. It brought the TRU WolfPack to its first win of the season.

Topping the boys in digs was Graham Allard with 4, and leading the team in kills was 6'9" Matt Harris with 12. Harris was satisfied with the result, but optimistic towards the future of the squad.

"I was excited to see how the team would perform together; I felt that we played pretty well overall and am excited to work out all the kinks over the next few exhibition matches as we approach the season opener".

Another newcomer to the 'Pack, 6'4" Andy Haley was sidelined due to an ankle injury sustained earlier in the week but was pleased with the way things came together for the team.

"I was able to see a lot from my cozy spot on the bench, and it was awesome to see players from all over the world come together in such a cohesive effort, and although there's plenty of room for improvement, it was a pleasant surprise", said the well-spoken Business student.

The morale in the gym is high as the 'Pack look to improve on last year's 1-19 record and certainly are on pace to do so.

The WolfPack are not scheduled to play at home again until October 27th when they face the Team Canada Masters squad, a team comprised of former national team members and former university players.

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