Ben Matchett; Dinos Communications
CALGARY – The ninth-ranked University of Calgary Dinos scored an upset win over the No. 3 Manitoba Bisons Friday night, taking a 3-1 decision (25-16, 31-29, 18-25, 25-22) in the Jack Simpson Gym.
Tim Taylor, Regan Fathers, and Alex Bader each had big nights with 18, 16, and 16 kills, respectively for the Dinos, while the Bisons countered with the duo of Scott Vercaigne and Adam DeJonckheere, who combined for 36 of Manitoba's 52 kills on the night, notching 18 apiece.
Six of Taylor's kills came in the opening set as the Dinos quickly doubled up to a 12-6 lead en route to a solid 25-16 win, setting up an epic second frame.
The Dinos and Bisons went toe-to- toe for the entire second set. Manitoba led 9-5, but the Dinos were able to claw back to take a 13-12 lead after Fathers picked up a kill and back-to-back aces. From there, however, there wasn't much to separate the teams, and the set went all the way to 31-29 when the Dinos were finally able to string together two points on a kill by Brett Bolin, followed by a Taylor effort that gave the Dinos a 2-0 lead.
After hitting 52 and 31 per cent in the first two sets, the Dinos' offence fell flat in the third as they managed just 10 kills against eight errors. A 6-1 Manitoba run midway through the frame put it out of reach, and the Bisons stayed alive with a 25-18 win. Calgary reestablished the offence in the fourth, however, hitting nearly 35 per cent to close out the match with a 25-22 win.
The Dinos hit better than 31 per cent on the night, with Bolin the most effective from his middle position with eight kills on 13 swings to go along with five blocks. Taylor added a pair of solo blocks on the night for the Dinos, while the Bisons actually edged Calgary in that category on the whole with 10.5 on the night. Dustin Spiring added eight kills to the gaudy totals of Vercaigne and DeJonckheere.
Calgary improves to 3-0 on the season, while Manitoba falls to 1-2. The two teams will face off again Saturday, with first serve set for 5:30 p.m. MT live on CanadaWest.tv.
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Photo by David Moll