Dinos battle Pandas inside The Jack

CALGARY – After a weekend sweep on the road against the MacEwan Griffins, the University of Calgary Dinos women’s volleyball team (5-3) will return home for a two-game set against the Alberta Pandas (5-3). All the action will take place at the Jack Simpson Gym, with the first serve on Friday set for 7:45 p.m. and things getting underway at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. 
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

1. BLOOMING DAISY – First-year Daisy Olsen had her coming out party this past weekend against the Griffins. Olsen finished with 26 kills and a .321 hitting percentage over eight sets of play to help the Dinos to a perfect weekend. Her 15 kills in the weekend’s first game was a season and career-high for Olsen just eight games into her time as a U SPORTS athlete.
 
2. TIGHTENING UP – Just one-third of the way through the Canada West regular season and things are already becoming incredibly tight in the middle of the standings. Out of the 14 teams in the league, nine of the 14 find themselves with a record of 4-4 or 5-3. Two of those 5-3 teams are the Dinos and Pandas, both of who will be looking for a 2-0 weekend to try and create some separation from the pack.
 
3. BLOCK PARTY – Hitters from both teams will have their work cut out for them in this one, as both teams currently rank in the top five in terms of blocks per set. Alberta sits second, averaging 4.22 per game, while Calgary is averaging 3.33 per set, which is good for fifth. Laila Johnston leads the way for the Pandas with 34 total blocks on the season, whereas Mya Sheridan is pacing the Dinos with 26 total blocks.
 
4. RAINING ASSISTS – Stella Rains has done a great job orchestrating the Dinos’ offensive attack this season, averaging just over seven assists per set through eight games. In Calgary’s three-set sweep of the Griffins last weekend, the third-year setter racked up 30 assists, while also contributing four kills of her own.

5. QUOTABLE – “The Pandas are a strong program and are well coached and trained. I’m excited for this ‘new matchup’, as we were fortunate to play them multiple times last season and have a strong sense of their playing style and systems. We’re working hard in our gym on the point-scoring side of our game and have seen a huge growth in that area as of late, so we are excited to keep the focus inward and continue to use our own performance standards as the benchmark for this weekend. By pushing ourselves, we’re ultimately positioning ourselves to have the best opportunities for success on the scoreboard as well.” – Dinos head coach Christine Biggs.
 
-UC-