Olivia Krol; Dinos Communications

CALGARY – The University of Calgary women's volleyball triumphed over Trinity Western University in five sets on Saturday night in the Jack Simpson Gym (25-14, 15-25, 27-25, 16-25, 15-10).

Now 17-3, the Dinos retain sole possession of first place in Canada West with four matches remaining, while Trinity Western falls to 13-7 with a key series against UBC up next week.

Kate Pexman led Calgary with a school-record 29 kills and 18 digs during the contest. Beth Vinnell added 14 kills of her own, while Laura McManes notched 10 kills and six digs.

For the Spartans, Hilary Howe recorded 16 kills with support from both Katelyn Devaney and Micaylee Pucilowski, who notched 10 kills each. Avery Heppell also earned double digit kills, slamming 13 down against the Dinos.

The first 20 points of the first set were neck and neck between the Dinos and the Spartans, as the teams battled out to 10-10 until a kill by Vinnell gave Calgary the advantage. Trinity Western fought back, coming within two points, at 13-11, but the Dinos continued to dominate. McManes, Pexman, and Vinnell all managed to add kills during the frame, but it was a service ace by Solberg that took the set, 25-14.

Trinity Western jetted off to a speedy 15-6 lead in the second set, with points coming down from kills by Devaney, McKenzie, and Pucilowski. The Spartan attack continued to command the floor, and the Dinos were unable to catch Trinity Western by the end of the set, falling 15-25.

In the third set, the Dinos and the Spartans traded points for the first six, until a series of errors by Calgary and a kill by Howe brought the score up to 9-6 in favor of the visiting team. Calgary capitalized on several attack errors in the middle of set, evening things out at 11-11, off a service ace by Pexman. The Dinos were able to gain back control at 16-14, eventually taking the set, 25-23.

With the fourth set, the Spartans rolled out to a 6-0 advantage, and were able to maintain control for the majority. Howe rattled off three kills in the frame, while Brie O'Reilly contributed two. A service error by Hannah Tanasichuk closed the set, 16-25 in favor of Trinity Western.
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In the deciding fifth set, Calgary bounced back, and the Dinos' defense dominated the court once again. The Dinos jumped out to a 10-6 advantage, led by Pexman with seven kills and one assist. McManes capped off the fifth set for the home team with a kill from Pexman.

"We had an uglier game than we did last night," said Pexman. "The Spartans played incredibly well, they worked hard on their defense. We suffered a little bit of a mental lapse in the sets we lost – we would be off by a few points, and knew it would be difficult to bounce back. That being said, the fifth set showed that we enter each set with a fresh mindset."

For the game, the Dinos noted 65 kills compared to 60 of the Spartans, and managed to record 71 digs, and a .216, while Trinity Western noted 69 and .299

Calgary will host back-to-back contests on Feb. 12-13, facing the MacEwan University Griffins, while the Spartans will next battle UBC in a home-and-home series next week.

-UC-

Photo by David Moll