Holly Holowath, Dinos Communications

CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos men's volleyball team cooled down the UBC Okanagan Heat with a straight sets win (25-21, 27-25, 25-21) on Thursday night at the Jack Simpson Gym.

UBCO came into the game riding a four-game win streak, but the No. 5 Dinos were able to hold them off in three very close sets. The Heat made things challenging for the Dinos with their stingy defence, but Calgary was able to overcome it with their strong hitting, posting a .281 percentage.

"The [Block Party energy] was a very exciting environment for the guys to play in," said Dinos head coach Rod Durrant, whose team played in front of one of their largest crowds of the season.

The energy from the fans helped set the tone for the matchup as the Dinos built an early lead and kept it throughout the first set en route to a 25-21 victory. 

Dinos trailed 14-7 in the second set but were able to catch up with seven straight points and turned the set into a back and forth game that they would take 27-25. 

"We had to settle down a bit, our serve-receive broke down, they served tougher and they played really good defence, they dug a lot of balls that we were hitting at them. I thought we did a good job. It was a huge set for us to come back in" said Durrant.

UBCO was hoping to avoid the sweep in the third set and showed resiliency with a 5-1 run mid-way through the frame. Calgary would put it away with some solid play late in the set to secure the 25-21 win and the sweep.

"I thought at times we showed a lot of poise and played solid but at times we had a little slip up on our serve-receive and would give them more momentum but all in all we are very pleased to win in three," commented the Calgary bench boss. 

Fifth-year outside hitter Alex Bader had a massive game for Calgary and led the team with 16 kills and hit a .577. Tim Taylor followed with 11 kills. 

The Heat were led by Lars Bornemann led the team with 15 kills and hit a .239. 

The Dinos and Heat will battle at the Jack Simpson Gym again tomorrow evening, starting at 6:30 p.m.