A pair of Thompson Rivers University (TRU) men’s volleyball players have returned to BC with some new hardware after winning a national beach volleyball title.
Rylan Ibbetson and Walker Sodaro competed in the 28-team Volleyball Canada university/college beach national championship last weekend.
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Representing TRU, the pair were perfect in their initial three matches at nationals and earned a bye to the quarter-finals.
The pair kept rolling with wins over the University of Fraser Valley and the University of Guelph, punching their ticket to the finals.
"The games were always close going into the technical timeout and we kind of managed to reset after that and make great pushes towards the end of sets," said Sodaro.
"We knew we didn't want to go to a third set because anything can happen in the third."
The pair kept rolling in the final and defeated Waterloo, claiming the national championship without playing a third set the entire tournament.
"It was the best feeling ever," said Sodaro.
"He's like family, he's like another brother to me, so to win with Rylan was awesome."
The duo is the third team TRU has entered into the tournament, with the previous pair of Sam Elgert and Sam Flowerday having recorded third and fourth-place finishes at the tournament.
Ibbetson, who is entering his fifth year with TRU, and Sodaro, a third-year setter, will now rejoin their TRU teammates and prepare for the upcoming season.
