CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos women’s volleyball team fell to their crosstown rival Mount Royal 3-1 on Saturday night in the Jack Simpson Gym.
This was anyone’s game through the first two sets, but the Cougars found a way to take the third set and coasted from there, 18-25, 25-22, 22-25, 14-25.
Daisy Olsen and Sophia Hansen both had strong showings at the net as they led the Dinos in kills. Olsen amassed 11, while Hansen finished with 10.
Across the net, three Cougars finished in double digits for kills on the night. Sydney Scatcherd led all players with 16 while hitting .448. Mya Morgan and Bronwynn Davies-Neira each chipped in with 10 apiece.
After jumping out to a 6-3 lead early, MRU was able to regroup, going ahead 11-7 and never looking back. The Dinos held the Cougars to an under-.200 hitting clip (.194) in the opening frame, but MRU completely shutdown Calgary’s offence and held them to negative hitting to cruise to the set-1 win.
Set 2 saw an awakened Dinos team, who built a seven-point lead at 20-13. MRU came roaring back and scored the next nine points in a row to grab a 22-20 advantage in what looked like a memorable comeback, only to see Calgary have an answer of its own. Back-to-back blocks by Narelle Arnold helped spark the run before an ace by Miranda Baines and a kill by Dominique Desautels brought the big crowd inside The Jack to its feet.
The Dinos pulled ahead early in the third set, but the Cougars matched their energy and kept the rallies long and strong. The back-and-forth effort took the set to 25-22 with a kill by Grace Coulter to end it.
The fourth and final set saw a powered-up Cougars team as they took charge and finished the set quickly at 25-14.
Cougars’ setter Alexa Herrod dished out 39 assists in this one, with Calgary’s Amelia Anderson guiding the Dinos’ attack with a team-high 30 assists.
“I think we did a good job of showing some growth from yesterday and at points some strong resilience, but at other points we had a lack of battle,” Dinos head coach Christine Biggs said postgame. “It’s something to build on and make one of our habits. We’re keen to capitalize on our bye-week and it will be nice to put our eyes back on ourselves. It’s an opportunity to do some skills and tactical work. This week is truly about us.”
The Dinos head into a bye-week before traveling to Edmonton to face the Alberta Pandas on November 22-23.
The Cougars also have a break ahead of them, also returning to action Nov. 22-23 when UBC comes to Kenyon Court.
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