Holly Holowath, Dinos Communications
CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos men's volleyball team swept the UBC Okanagan Heat in Game 2 on Friday night at the Jack Simpson Gym with another 3-0 win (25-13, 25-22, 27-25).
Calgary looked to replicate Thursday night's performance by challenging the Heat's offence and did so with another outstanding performance at the net, recording 10.5 blocks. Following a poor start in the first set, UBCO rebounded in the second and third sets, but it was the Dinos that pulled off their second-straight sweep.
With the win, the Dinos improve their record to 9-3, while the Heat drop to 5-7 in Canada West play.
Dinos dominated in the first set against UBCO as they took a 16-8 lead into the technical timeout. The set was highlighted by a massive rally that went for nearly a minute and ended with a block error by the Heat's Max Heppell.
Calgary was able to protect its lead and take the set 25-13 after a kill by fifth-year outside hitter Calvin Siebert.
"Our hitting was absolutely our strength today and we did a better job on our side, we definitely passed the ball better today," said Dinos head coach Rod Durrant.
The Dinos looked like they would pull away in the second set with a 21-18 lead late, but the Heat refused to go away as they tried to even the score. UBCO cut the deficit to two late, but Calgary managed to hold on for a 25-23 win.
With the Dinos leading 16-13 in the third set, the Heat continued to press as they tried to avoid the sweep. The UBCO offence brought the score even at 23-23, but after some back-and-forth play, Calgary closed out the match with a 27-25 decision in the third.
"The one thing that was controllable was our attitude and we were consistent in that, we acted more mature. Our ability on serve-receive to get that ball in the circle made it easy on me to run the offence and make the hitters look good," commented fourth-year setter Blain Cranston.
Outside hitter Alex Bader led the team for a second straight night with 10 kills, while Tim Taylor provided seven kills.
Lars Bornemann led the Heat with 20 kills and a .531 hitting percentage.
The Calgary Dinos face University of Brandon next at the Jack Simpson Gym on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 12-13, 2018.
The UBC Okanagan play University of Alberta next at home on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 5-6, 2018.