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'Pack can't deal with Cards

For the second night in a row, the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack fell to the No. 4-ranked team in NCAA men’s volleyball – Stanford.

STANFORD, CA—For the second night in a row, the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack came up with a solid effort,but fell short to the No. 4-ranked team in NCAA men’s volleyball – Stanford.  On Saturday, Jan. 7, the American hosts downed the WolfPack 3-0. The scores were 25-21, 25-16,25-20.

“The first set saw us up 21-20,” said WolfPack head coach Pat Hennelly. “We made a few crucial errors on our side.  We played well in the second set and had a few long rallies.  Stanford did a better job

of managing the ball in those long rallies. We did a good job on defence and serving tonight. It was a great seven sets of volleyball and we are playing some great volleyball right now.”

Hennelly gave credit to a few of his players: “Brad Gunter (1st year, outside hitter, Courtenay) was very good again with Colin Carson (3rd year, setter, Prince George)  leading the offence. Nic Balasz

(1st year, Prince George played a good match and was very stable for us in the middle.”

Gunter had a team high 10 kills in 21 opportunities with seven digs and three block assists.  Carson had 22 assists and four digs with a solo block and one block assist. Balasz had one kill in five chances with a dig and four block assists.

Stanford was led by Steven Irwin with 15 kills in 29 chances.  Brian Cook had 13 kills in 26 opportunities. Evan Barry had 42 assists with a service ace and seven digs.

Hennelly added: “ It was nice to see us play with a top NCCA team and should be a good confidence boost for the second semester.”

The WolfPack ended their California adventure with a day of sight seeing in San Francisco. They return home to Kamloops and open the 2012 portion of their Canada West season as they visit the UBC Thunderbirds in Vancouver on Friday, Jan. 13.  Their next home match is Friday, Jan. 20 at the Tournament Capital Centre when they entertain the Brandon University Bobcats.