Larissa Vicente Ferreira, Dinos Communications

CALGARY – The reigning Canada West champion University of Calgary Dinos continued to dominate Saturday, posting another straight-sets win (25-14, 25-19, 25-23) in their second game of the season against the Thompson Rivers WolfPack at the Jack Simpson Gym.

Prior to the match, the Dinos welcomed the presence of four former members of the Women's Volleyball team that graduated in 201- – Laura McManes, Brianna Solberg, Amber Adolf, and Jaylynn Moffatt – to unfurl their championship banner.

After Friday's game score of 3-0 for the Dinos, Calgary started right up where they had left off. In the opening set, the Dinos hit .312 while the Wolfpack hit .000, setting the pace for the rest of the match. With 14 kills, the Dinos kept their momentum going and closed the set with a 25-14 score.

TRU brought a spark to their offense to make it up for the first set, jumping out to a 4-0 lead inn the second set. While the Dinos lost a bit of their aggressiveness, the Wolfpack kept creeping back during the game and took a late lead at 19-18. After a Calgary time out, though, the Dinos scored the final seven straight points to take the set 25-19.

The third was the tightest of the day, with both teams clicking well offensively. After posting a .000 hitting percentage in both of the first two sets, Thompson Rivers was a much more effective .368 in the third. It was neck-and-neck throughout, but the Dinos managed to put it away 25-23 to take the weekend in six straight sets.

Kate Pexman's strong performance from start to finish had her accomplish 15 kills during the match for the Dinos, while Hannah Tanasichuk added seven. Olga Savenchuk led the way for the WolfPack with nine kills, with Kendra Finch adding eight.

"We dominated yesterday, and I think we dominated in the first couple [games] here," said Calgary libero Kennedy Snape, who finished the night with 12 digs. "Sure, they put up a really big fight and got us on the ropes a little bit, but it just shows us how to push through those walls, and we gained the dominance that we needed to finish out the set and finish out the game. Both days, we played very consistently."

Calgary will look to maintain that consistency after a bye week when they host the Regina Cougars Nov. 2-3 in the Jack Simpson Gym. Thompson Rivers, meanwhile, heads back home to take on the UBC Thunderbirds at the Tournament Capital Centre next week.

-UC-

Photo by David Moll