Larissa Vicente Ferreira, Dinos Communications
CALGARY – The No. 1 University of Calgary Dinos have another win under their belt as they remained undefeated with a three sets victory (25-15, 25-13, 25-13) against the Manitoba Bisons on Saturday at the Jack Simpson Gym.
Calgary's Kate Pexman led all players in the match with 14 kills, followed by her teammate Kenzie Vaandering with 10. Manitoba's Allison Alcock collected 9 kills for the Bisons.
"This weekend has been a great weekend for us," said Dinos libero Kennedy Snape. "Manitoba is such a good team, and I don't think that the score reflects how good of a team they are."
The first set began with a choppy start for both teams with few long rallies. The Dinos closed out the first half of the set with a five-point lead on the Bisons and maintained control of the set with four service aces. Calgary ended up taking the set with a 25-15 score.
The Bisons looked to have found their game to begin the second set as they took an early three-point lead. However, the Dinos improved their game by only making two attack errors and by taking advantage of the seven by the Bisons. With a .469 hitting percentage, Calgary had an 8-point lead on Manitoba, with only .118, for most of the set and eventually got the win 25-13.
In the final set, the Dinos came out of the gate slowly. Head coach Natalie Gurnsey decided to add first-year player Marina Culo to the game, which brought some net-front presence for Calgary. From there, Calgary built up a nine-point lead and won the last set 25-13.
"We wanted to come out and have a couple more wins before Trinity next weekend," explained Snape. "We made very low errors both nights, and that made it so much easier for us."
Next week will feature one of the best matchups of the season as the No. 1 Dinos put their undefeated season on the line against the Canada West's other 10-0 team, the Trinity Western Spartans on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
The Manitoba Bisons return home for a weekend matchup against their provincial rival, the Brandon Bobcats.
"It's going to be the best night of the season. You got one and two in the country facing off. It's going to be great matches, both nights. I think this weekend just shows how ready we are for next weekend," declared Snape.
Photo by David Moll