The Thompson Rivers University WolfPack women's volleyball team treated a large home crowd to a treat.

The upstart 'Pack downed the perennial national championship contenders University of British Columbia Thunderbirds 3-2 Friday (October 24) night at the Tournament Capital Centre.

The scores were 25-17, 25-12, 22-25, 16-25, and 15-11.

Thompson Rivers moves to 2-3 on the season. Both victories have come in five sets.  The Thunderbirds fall to 2-3 on the year as well.

"Anytime UBC comes in here and you get a win, it's a successful night," stated WolfPack head coach Chad Grimm, himself a UBC alumna. "I thought we started pretty well. But we started to look around a little bit. UBC stepped it up defensively in the third set as any good team does and we fought it out in the fifth."

"My job as coach is to develop execution," said UBC coach Doug Reimer.  "We didn't execute that well.  I did like the fact we were down 2-0 and playing very poorly to rally.  We were down 9-2 in the fifth and came back."

Grimm thought his team prevailed in the fifth after telling his girls beforehand that they were in a moment and they should enjoy it. "We can't be worried about the result. We have to enjoy the moment. We had our home crowd and we made it to the fifth set. It is a moment that you should savor. They did a really good job of getting the blank look off their face and enjoying it."

TRU was led by Iuliia Pakhomenko (third year, outside hitter, Donetsk, Ukraine).  She was named the TRU Bookstore/McDonalds Leader of the Pack Player of the Match for 21 kills in 40 chances with two service aces, 10 digs, a solo block and two block assists.

"Offensively she was cruising and did a pretty decent job serving," said Grimm about Pakhomenko. "She gives us a bit of confidence.  They know that come crunch time that she will be there and be aggressive. She is not afraid to take the game in her hands. Kudos to her for doing that."

Brianne Rauch (third year, outside hitter, Kimberly, BC) had 11 kills in 25 opportunities with three service aces and 15 digs.

Kara Twomey (third year, setter, Winnipeg, MB) had 43 assists and five digs.

UBC was led by Rosie Schlaginweit (fifth year, right side, Abbotsford, BC) with 12 kills in 37 swings with 11 digs.

Alissa Coulter (fourth year, left side, Calgary, AB) had 10 kills in 31 chances with two service aces, four digs and four block assists.

Alessandra Gentile (second year, setter, Port Moody, BC) had 37 assists.

The two teams will close out their weekend series on Saturday (October 25 th).  Game time at the TCC will be 5 pm and the match will be carried on Canada West TV.

On Saturday, the WolfPack will honor their alumni.