Prince George's university volleyball team -- that would be the Thompson Rivers University WolfPack of Kamloops -- is having a howling-good season.
The WolfPack, which features P.G. players Colin Carson, Spencer Reed, Nic Balazs and Jordan Foot, boasts a match record of 10-4 and sits in third place in the Canada West conference of Canadian Interuniversity Sport. TRU has won six in a row and is currently ranked fourth in the country. That ranking is the highest-ever for any WolfPack team since TRU joined the CIS nine years ago.
The WolfPack had been seventh on the national list until a pair of home-court victories against the Brandon University Bobcats last weekend. The Brandon club entered the weekend as No. 5 in the country but, after a five-set loss on Friday night (23-25, 25-18, 24-26, 27-25, 15-9) and a sweep on Saturday (32-30, 26-24, 25-23), dropped to seventh.
How about that score in Saturday's first set? Gotta love the entertainment value of high-level volleyball.
Oh, and guess who was named TRU's player of the match on Saturday? That would be Carson, a fifth-year setter. In the win, he had an unbelievable 43 assists, 23 of them in the extended first set.
"That could be a record for us even though we went extra points," head coach Pat Hennelly told Larry Read, TRU's sports information officer, after the match. "He is one of the reasons why the offence is running so efficiently. He is making some great plays. He had some one-arm assists today that were awesome."
Carson, who graduated from Duchess Park in 2009, has been getting it done all season for the WolfPack. In fact, his level of play has been so outstanding that he's leading not just Canada West in assists, but the entire CIS. In 54 sets played, he has 604 helpers for an average of 11.19 per set. Second on the national list is Luke Herr of the University of Manitoba Bisons, who has 576 assists in 57 sets (average of 10.11 per set).
During his TRU career, Carson has been known for spreading the ball around beautifully. That has been true again this year -- his final year of CIS eligibility -- but his favourite target has been Brad Gunter, a six-foot-six outside hitter from Courtenay. Gunter, in his third year with the WolfPack, has more kills than any other player in Canada, with 297 in 54 sets (average of 5.5 per set). Gunter was a big factor in the wins against Brandon as he slammed 30 kill shots on Friday and 28 more on Saturday.
The P.G. product who has made the next-biggest impact with the WolfPack this season is Reed, a fifth-year libero who has appeared in 29 of the team's 54 sets to date and has 48 digs. The former PGSS student is now an aspiring teacher and has been balancing volleyball with a workplace practicum. That being the case, he has been sharing playing time with fourth-year libero Matt Krueger. With Reed though, something that doesn't show up on paper is his leadership. He has a maturity level beyond his years and an endlessly-positive outlook, qualities that are of huge value to the WolfPack.
As for Balazs and Foot, a pair of middle blockers who graduated from D.P. Todd, their contributions have been limited because of injuries.
Balazs is dealing with ongoing knee and hip problems and has been on the court for just five regular-season sets. As a third-year player, he has all the tools to be a starter but has instead found himself in the doctor's office. Next may be a visit to a specialist in Vancouver.
Foot, meanwhile, was being given spot duty as a rookie but then suffered a severe ankle sprain during a pre-Christmas practice. He's now doing rehabilitation and may be ready for duty in a couple weeks. A season or two down the road, he'll be a fixture in the starting lineup.
A fifth guy who calls Prince George his hometown, Jared Mitchell, began the season as a libero for TRU but, with the depth at that position, has been doing play-by-play on WolfPack webcasts.
For TRU, the goal is a Canada West playoff spot (all but certain at this point) and a berth in nationals, Feb. 27 to March 1 in Calgary. To get to nationals, the WolfPack must make it to the championship match in the Canada West playoffs as the top two teams and the host Dinos (current record of 8-6) will advance. Right now, TRU has to be considered one of the favourites, along with the Trinity Western University Spartans (13-1) and the University of Alberta Golden Bears (10-4, same record as the WolfPack).
And what about actual university volleyball here in Prince George some day? It could still happen at UNBC but first the Timberwolves athletics program -- which has basketball and soccer as its sports -- must pass a two-year Canada West probationary period, which expires at the end of this season.
Then, with UNBC president George Iwama stepping down, much will depend on who is named as his replacement. Will that individual be a believer in athletics or not? If not, the post-secondary volleyball void that has existed here since the College of New Caledonia spiked its program in 2005 will continue, with no end in sight.
For now, we'll have to continue to claim the WolfPack as ours.
Next home games for Prince George's team -- for anyone interested in making a six-hour road trip -- are Jan. 24-25 against the mighty Spartans.
Couldn't ask for a better matchup.
