Dinos surge back into playoff picture with weekend sweep

CALGARY – For a second night in a row, the University of Calgary Dinos men’s volleyball team defeated the University of Winnipeg Wesmen by a score of 3-0 on Saturday night at the Jack Simpson Gym. With the win, the Dinos improved to 7-9 on the season, vaulting themselves into 8th place in the Canada West standings.

Next weekend the Dinos face the Brandon Bobcats (8-6), who sit two spots ahead of Calgary in the standings. Calgary’s first year setter Zack Durrant spoke about carrying this weekend’s momentum into Manitoba next weekend. 

“Honestly, we just have got to go in there and work hard. We know Brandon’s a tough place to go into and win, we’ve just gotta go in, keep battling and keep the momentum rolling.”

Durrant played a pivotal role in the Dinos win tonight, tallying 36 assists and six digs. The rookie spoke about what goes into his decision making process after the game.

“I just go to whoever’s hot. From there, if I see a matchup I like, I can go attack it. Tonight, I wanted to spread the ball. Everyone was playing well, I just had to keep it rolling.”

The first set tonight resembled Friday night’s opening frame. Calgary jumped out to an early 10-4 lead thanks to some incredible defence, tallying four blocks within the first 14 points. Winnipeg once again relied heavily upon senior Nigel Nielsen to keep them competitive. Nielsen would finish the game with 19 kills, tallying six in the opening set. However, errors were once again an issue for Winnipeg early, as the Wesmen committed nine attack errors in the frame. Calgary senior Liam Kuppe picked up right where he left off last night, delivering two of his team high 14 kills to close out the first set 25-19.

The intensity of the game noticeably shifted in the second set, as Winnipeg played much sharper than they had the previous four. The Wesmen looked more comfortable and began to find their groove. Nielsen continued to pepper Calgary with his arsenal of attacks, which in turn opened up lanes for his teammates as the Dinos were forced to devote more attention to him. Despite Winnipeg’s best efforts, a big back row swing from Kuppe made it 21-18 in favour of the Dinos. The Wesmen would rally back to take the lead 24-23. With the set on the line, Durrant made a quick pass to Dinos third year middle Jackson Meier (five kills, three blocks). Meier rose up in a flash and powered a kill directly through the Winnipeg block, tying the set at 24. After Kuppe went cross court to make it 26-25, an uncharacteristic attack error from Nielsen gave Calgary the set 27-25.

Set number three was also very close as the Dinos held a narrow lead 15-14 at the midway point. However, around this point it became evident that Winnipeg had no answer for Calgary’s attack. Durrant masterfully spread the ball around to his teammates as Winnipeg struggled to predict where the swing would come from. Some sharp defence down the stretch allowed Calgary to extend their lead to 20-15. The Dinos would go on to win the final set 25-22.

With the win, the Dinos improve to 7-9 on the season and will travel to Brandon to face the 8-6 Bobcats in BU Gym. Game one begins 6:45 p.m on Friday January 20th, game two begins Saturday January 21st at 5:45 p.m. Winnipeg (6-8) will have some time to regroup with a bye next weekend, returning to the court Jan. 27-28 against Trinity Western in Langley, B.C.

-UC-