News 56

WolfPack generous to Huskies

By BART CUMMINS
Special to the Daily News
November 6 2006

Pat Hennelly got the message loud and clear Saturday night.

His team needs a tune up, and fast.

For the second straight night, the TRu men's volleyball coach watched his players commit so many service faults that they essentially handed the visiting University of Saskatchewan Huskies their second three-set sweep at the TRU gym.

The Huskies won 25-20, 32-30, 25-21.

TRU gave up 20 service errors Saturday - double that of the Huskies - for a two-day total of 38 through six sets. U of S was tagged with 16 service errors over the same period.

"We gave them a third of their offence," Hennelly said of Saturday's miscues, which resulted in TRu falling to 0-2 in CIS Canada West action. The Huskies are 2-2.

TRU is scheduled to next meet the Trinity Western Spartans, the defending champions, Friday and Saturday in Langley.

"There are certain times when you don't want to miss with your serves," said a frustrated Hennelly. "You don't want to miss consecutive serves; you don't want to miss after a timeout; you don't want to miss after a big play."

In a moment of reflection Hennelly conceded the WolfPack, which continues to gel after the addition of some offseason recruits, showed promise of what might come. He was pleased to see TRU claw back in the latter stages and make each set interesting.

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ROBIN SCHOEBEL, #16, smashes one of his 15 kills of the night as #4 Martin Korsbak crouches in defense.

Tagged with four service errors apiece on Saturday were TRU players Kyle Brewer, Tim Flannigan and Tony Zylstra.

In Saturday's first set, TRU showed the 200 fans that a Huskies sweep might not be the order of the night. In the early going the teams traded points and were tied at nine before the Huskies surged to four and five-point leads en route to winning the set.

The marathon second set was another trading of points for the most part though the WolfPack had leads of 17-13 and 18-14.

In the third set, TRU trailed the entire time with the exception of an early 3-3 deadlock. From there, the Huskies widened the gap to consistently holding five-point leads and were even up by seven at 19-12.

WolfPack outside Robin Schoebel had a strong night, cashing in for 15 of TRU's 41 kills. Using his 6-foot-7 height, vertical ability and pro experience from playing in Europe, Schoebel frequently foiled the Huskies' blockers.

Schoebel was charged with a pair of service errors and agreed with Hennelly that the difference was at the service line. But overall, Schoebel said, the WolfPack gave hints of what could lie ahead with a little more court time together.

"We're going to be a fighting team," Schoebel said. "We know what we can do and how we can get there. It's going to be a fun season. Losing two games is no big deal because we could winthe rest and be 16-2."

After Schowebel's 15 kills, Coleman Molnar followed with seven. Brewer took home seven of TRu's 26 digs and Flannigan, Graham Allard, Behlul Yavasgel, and Patrick Johnston each had three.

For the Huskies, Gavin Little had 12 of 43 kills and Philip Blatz had 10. Daniel Quintal had 10 of 33 digs.

WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL: Laura Battison's third ace of the night gave the WolfPack a 3-1 victory (26-24, 18-25, 25-22, 25-18) over the U of S Huskies at TRU gym Saturday.

TRU climbed to 1-1 in Canada West and U of S, which had won in four sets Friday, fell to 1-3.

Of the WolfPack's 51 kills, Robyn Devlin led with 18, Sandra-Joy Unaegbu had 13 and Richelle Walton had nine. Laura Plouffe scooped 15 of TRU's 48 digs. Devlin had 10 and Kristy Alblas had eight.

TRU's next action is against the SFU Clan in Burnaby on Friday and Saturday.

MEN'S BASKETBALL: The WolfPack (0-2) dropped a 90-70 decision to the host Saskatchewan Huskies. Charlie Spurr led TRU with 26 points, while Brian Smith had 17.

TRU led for most of the first half and the teams were tied at 39 at halftime. Early second-half foul trouble forced TRU into having five rookies on the floor, something that contributed to 17 turnovers in that half.

The WolfPack will play host to the Victoria Vikes on Saturday, 8 p.m., and Sunday, 3 p.m.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: The Huskies beat the WolfPack 97-47 with Kelley O'Grady scoring 14 points and pulling down 11 rebounds for TRU.

The WolfPack is at home to Victoria on Satudray, 6 p.m., and Sunday, 1 p.m.