Ben Matchett; Dinos Communications
CALGARY – Led by a 20-kill effort from Kate Pexman, the second-ranked University of Calgary Dinos overcame a furious Manitoba defence to defeat the Bisons 3-2 (25-22, 19-25, 20-25, 25-15, 15-11) Friday night in the Jack Simpson Gym.
On a night the visitors picked up a whopping 89 total digs, the Dinos fended off frustration after going down two sets to one and came back with a dominant performance in the fourth set to send it to the fifth and deciding frame. There, Calgary put it away to improve to 3-0 on the young season. The Bisons fall to 1-2.
"Manitoba was out of their minds defensively," complimented Calgary Head Coach Natalie Gurnsey after the match. "When we're a hard-hitting team, we get frustrated when we hit a great shot and they just bring it back up. We got way too frustrated in the first three sets, and we just had to calm down, be patient, and realize it's going to take us four or five swings."
It was a defensive gem on both sides, with the teams combining for 23 blocks and 159 total digs in the contest. It got started early, when the Bisons took a 13-10 lead in the opening set as the Dinos struggled to get their offence on track. The defence stepped up, with Beth Vinnell in on four blocks as the Dinos went on a 9-0 run, leading them to a 25-22 opening-set win.
The second set was all Bisons as they held the Dinos to a just .062 percentage in the frame to take a 25-19 win in a set where the score flattered the home side. The third again went to the Bisons, who had their best offensive performance of the match with 18 kills in a 25-20 win.
An 8-1 Calgary run midway through the fourth set broke that one open as the Dinos hit 30 per cent, then held Manitoba to a zero hitting efficiency in the fifth to take it 15-11 – still, it took five match-point opportunities to close it out as the Bisons just wouldn't go away.
"When you get that frustrated it's hard to play free and play within yourself," said Gurnsey. "We decided just to play like we train every single day, trust it, trust each other, and it'll always work out."
Pexman easily led all players with her 20 kills on the night, while sophomore Hannah Tanasichuk came off the bench for the Dinos and picked up 10 kills in just three sets. Vinnell and Jaylynn Moffatt picked up a pair of solo blocks each, while Pexman added 19 digs to her stat line – one back of libero Kennedy Snape.
For the Bisons, Kearley Abbott picked up 17 kills while Tori Studler added 14. Setter Brittany Habing and libero Cassie Bujan each had 20 digs on the night for Mantioba, while Studler added another 15 in a losing cause.
The same two teams face off Saturday afternoon in the Jack Simpson Gym, with first serve set for 4 p.m. MT.
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Photo by David Moll