Baines, Durrant earn All-Star selections

CALGARY – Just a few days after their thrilling sweep of cross-town rival Mount Royal and another berth to the Canada West Final Four, the University of Calgary Dinos men’s volleyball team had a pair of its players recognized with CW postseason honours, the conference office announced Tuesday.

Lincoln Baines was named a Second Team All-Star, while Zack Durrant got a nod on the All-Rookie Team. The All-Star honours are a first for both.

Baines has been a standout player at the net for the past few seasons and has helped the Dinos make a significant push down the home stretch this year. The 6-foot-7 middle has racked up 132 kills, 87 total blocks and a career-high 53 digs on the year so far. He also owns an impressive .338 attack percentage on the year – ranking him eighth in all of Canada West. Last season, Baines led all of Canada in both total blocks (97) and blocks/set (1.52) in helping the Dinos to a memorable postseason run that saw them finish fourth at nationals. He started his senior season battling an injury, but his play since the start of the new year helped Calgary finish 12-12 in Canada West and once again advancing to this year’s semifinals.

After starting the season at libero, Durrant made the move to setter early in the year due to injuries at the position and quickly made his impact known. The 6-foot Calgary product has started just 12 times on the year but leads the squad with 513 total assists to go with 128 digs (second-most on the team), 17 service aces and 16 total blocks. In fact, in Saturday’s thrilling five-set comeback win at Mount Royal in the conference quarterfinals, Durrant dished out a career-high 47 assists and his solo block midway through the fourth set helped shift the momentum in the Dinos favour.

Calgary – winners in 10 of their last 13 overall – will now look to continue their hot streak in the Canada West semifinals this weekend, traveling to Langley, B.C. for a best-of-three series against third-seeded Trinity Western.

POSITION / NAME / UNIVERSITY / YEAR / PROGRAM / HOMETOWN
1st Team All Stars
OH / Jordan Canham / Alberta / 4 / Education / Avonmore, ON
OH / Dylan Mortensen / Saskatchewan / 5 / Business / Swift Current, SK
OH / Chris Byam / Mount Royal / 3 / Health & Phys. Ed. / Bow Island, AB
OH / Brodie Hofer / Trinity Western / 4 / Business / Langley, BC
OH / Matthew Neaves / British Columbia / 4 / Business / Calgary, AB
OH / Jesse Elser / Trinity Western / 4 / Education / Calgary, AB
L / Landon Currie / Alberta / 5 / Business / Vernon, BC

2nd Team All Stars
M / Philipp Lauter / Brandon / 2 / Music / Wiesbaden, Germany
OH / Jacob van Geel / Mount Royal / 3 / Business / Calgary, AB
L / Darian Picklyk / Winnipeg / 5 / Business and Administration / Springfield, MB
M / Lincoln Baines / Calgary / 4 / Business / Calgary, AB
OH / Levi Olson / Saskatchewan / 5 / Engineering / Saskatoon, SK
OH / Nimo Benne / Fraser Valley / 3 / Computing Science / Castricum, The Netherlands
OH/S / Mathias Elser / Trinity Western / 3 / Business / Calgary, AB

All Rookie Team
M / Jordon Heppner / Manitoba / 1 / University One / Winnipeg, MB
OH / Conaire Taub / British Columbia / 1 / Kinesiology / Calgary, AB
OH / Seba Manuel / UBC Okanagan / 1 / Health & Exercise Sciences / Kelowna, BC
S / Anselm Rein / Trinity Western / 1 / Biology / Calgary, AB
S / Zack Durrant / Calgary / 1 / Kinesiology / Calgary, AB
OH / Jacob Sargent / Alberta / 1 / Kinesiology, Sport & Rec. / Lethbridge, AB
L / Ethan Smith / Saskatchewan / 1 / Kinesiology / Prince Albert, SK

-UC-