Recap

West Coast Wolverines Roll to 4-0 Whitewash of Northern Rollers

Wolverines Stage Big Comeback in Game 1 Victory over Rollers

In a very fast-paced game, the Wolverines duo Vicky Strandlund (the oldest player on the court) and Angie Walker staged a huge five-point rally to stun Rollers’ duo Jessi Kawamoto and Emma Li.

It was a pitched battle in the first half of this game, with the sides exchanging a couple of great returns, mixed with plenty of Dura balls finding the Selkirk provided nets (most by the Rollers). All bad shots aside, the pace was quite quick and a testament to the ability of both sides.

With the score 8-7 for the Rollers, a timeout seemed to be the tonic for the leading side, as they roared to take a commanding 13-10 lead. In that sequence, it was the Wolverines who were forced into some errant shots that cost them.

After the second and final timeout, the Rollers seemed to be in the driver’s seat – or so it seemed.

Strandlund and Walker played near flawlessly, forcing Kawamoto and Li into difficult positions. Strandlund started a rally with a monster smash to make the score 13-11, followed by four straight unforced errors by the Rollers side.

The final dagger was a long return by the Rollers to hand the Wolverines the 15-13 W.

Wolverines Top Rollers in Spirited Game 2

It didn’t take long, given the few numbers of shots that the West Coast Rollers men needed to subdue their Northern Rollers counterparts.

But that didn’t mean the game wasn’t without some high-intensity back and forth play. Wolverines’ Haddow Thul and Joel Pelletier played it near perfectly, subjecting the Rollers’ Jonas Dahler and Corey Osborne to blistering volleys in the Wolverines convincing 15-9 victory.

The two sides seemed to be shaking it out early and the Wolverines scratched out a 8-7 lead before the first timeout. The teams split four points to give the Wolverines a 10-9 advantage, but they never looked back from there. Having found their stride, Thul and Pelletier poured it on, the kicker being a screaming return by Pelletier to put his team up 14-9.

In the end, the Wolverines male pair gave their team a signature victory and a chokehold on the match.

Wolverines Mixed Doubles Pair Drubs Rollers in Game 3

In a must-win mixed doubles game, the Northern Rollers ran into a juggernaut in the Wolverines’ Haddow Thul and Angie Walker. The Wolverines won the first point quickly and were never really threatened by Rollers’ Jonas Dahler and Jessi Kawamoto.

The Wolverines forced Dahler and Kawamoto into poor shot selection at times, the highlight of the early game being a brilliant return by Thul that the Rollers couldn’t handle, making the score 5-1.

Thul turned the trick again before the side change, handling a hard shot to put his team up 8-1. Walker contributed to the Wolverines’ dominant play a little later, smashing an unreturnable drive to put her team up 10-1.

The Rollers did attempt to make a game of it, rallying to get the score within seven at 13-6, eventually succumbing to the powerful Wolverines’ side 15-6.

Rollers Fall to Wolverines in Entertaining Final Game

With the match already settled in favour of the Wolverines, they could have mailed it in, and no one would have batted an eye.

But kudos to the pair of Vicky Strandlund and Joel Pelletier, who had to contend with a dogged Rollers’ pair of Emma Li and Corey Osborne. In the end, the Wolverines did prevail 15-12, sealing the 4-0 whitewash.

The veteran Osborne put his considerable talents on display this game, keeping the Rollers close with three laser-like shots at key points in the game. The last was a seemingly seeing eye return down the line to make the score 13-12 in favor of the Wolverines.

That shot, however, would be his last big one in this game, which was highlighted by some superior dink-out play to set up glorious winning shots.