Holly Holowath; Dinos Communications

CALGARY – The No. 10 University of Calgary Dinos bounced back from a 2-1 deficit to defeat the Mount Royal University Cougars in a lengthy match Thursday night in the Jack Simpson Gym.

After the Dinos won the first set 25-19, the Cougars retaliated the next two sets 25-22 and 25-21. However, the Dinos would come back in the fourth 25-19 and eventually take the fifth set, 15-10.

The Dinos came to the match eager to win after clinching a spot in the playoffs. With their powerful offence they led throughout the first set with the score reaching 20-13. The Cougars eventually caught but the Dinos still came out on top with Alex Bader dominating the court and scoring the set point to make the score, 25-19.

Mount Royal came prepared to come back in the second set as they took the lead early in the set with a 10-4 score. The Dinos eventually gained back momentum on the defensive side to catch up to a tie of 15-15. Each team was hungry for a win, going point for point through the set. However, the Cougars would push forward to take the set, 25-22.

The third set started off as a close contest as the game was tied 10-10. The Cougars came ready at the net with an absolutely solid defence to take the lead 18-14. The Dinos weren't giving up as they played a strong offence but just couldn't avoid the blocks Mount Royal was putting up. The Dinos fell short and Mount Royal would win the set, 25-21.

Calgary pushed their hardest to take the match to five sets as they held the lead early in the fourth set, 16-13. The Dinos really picked up speed throughout the set with strong defence and offence at the net that would assist them in crushing a 25-19 win to take the match to a fifth set.

The Dinos weren't backing down in the fifth set as their strong offence gave them an early advantage, which would help them win, 15-10

"We're in the right spot for where we need to be in the season, especially with entering play offs, we need to play like we did in the fifth set of this game," commented fourth-year setter Blain Cranston. "There were ups and downs at times but we keep progressing and there are still more positives. I'm really happy with our execution today."

Dinos fifth-year outside hitter Alex Bader notched an impressive 20 kills during the match. Brett Bolin kills the top hitting percentage with .600.

Mount Royal's Mitchell Newman leads the Cougars with a total of 14 kills through the match.

The teams wrap up the 2017-18 Canada West regular season Friday night when they face off again at MRU's Kenyon Court. First serve is set for 6 p.m. MT, live on CanadaWest.tv.

-UC-

Photo by David Moll