CALGARY - The University of Calgary Dinos picked up a crucial 3-0 win over the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds in their final home stand of the season at the Jack Simpson Gym on January 30th.
With the win, Calgary improves their record to 11-12, while the UBC drops below .500 to 11-10.
The Dinos were led once again by Keith West, who had a game-high of 17 kills. Braden O'Toole also hit double digits, recording 12 kills, and setter Jackson Maris had game-highs in both assists with 40 and digs with 10.
The Thunderbirds, who had a quiet night offensively, were led by Ben Chow and Mac McNicol with eight kills, respectively. Irvan Brar led the team with nine digs.
The first set was very close all the way through, but Calgary took a slight advantage midway through the set, as they led 16-14 at the technical time out. The Dinos continued to build on their lead as they extended it to four points, but some offensive errors by Calgary led to a four point run for the Thunderbirds which tied the game at 22.
A long rally that ended in a kill by Calgary's Brendan Visser put them ahead 24-22, but UBC was not done as they came back to tie it at 24. A tight battle was ended by two consecutive kills by West, giving the Dinos a 28-26 victory in the first set.
Calgary came out to an early 4-0 lead in the second set and T-birds head coach Richard Schick was forced to call a time out with his team struggling, down 7-2. The Dinos maintained a comfortable lead until late in the set, when UBC slowly battled back to within one point at 20-19. However, Dinos' sophomore Calvin Siebert came off the bench and went on a four point serving run, which led his team to a 25-21 win, giving them a 2-0 advantage going into the third set.
A 15 minute delay early in the third due to some confusion over a UBC substitution eventually resulted in a 5-0 Calgary lead. The Thunderbirds finally got on the board with a kill from Alex Russell, and they clawed their way back into the set as Calgary held onto a narrow lead at 14-13. The Dinos kept coming and UBC had to take their final time out, trailing 19-15.
The T-birds came to life after the time out, as they went on a huge six point run to give them their first lead of the set at 21-20. A kill and a serving ace by O'Toole put the Dinos back in the lead, but UBC tied the score once again at 23 points. Another pair of consecutive kills by West gave the Dinos a 25-23 victory, completing a three set sweep.
"We had a lot of fun tonight and when we have fun we're a very good team, and when we stay focused on what we've got to do on our side, we play really well" said fifth year Dinos veteran, Sean Tuff.
The Dinos will need to bring that energy again tomorrow night (Jan. 31), in what is sure to be another exciting game between these two teams. The scheduled start time is 6:30 p.m. at the Jack Simpson Gymnasium.