KAMLOOPS, B.C. – The University of Calgary Dinos men’s volleyball team hit .301 for the match – including .556 in the fifth set – but Thompson Rivers came up with the clutch points at key moments in a 3-2 win Friday night from the Tournament Capital Centre.
The Dinos racked up 15 services aces on the night – the most in a match since hitting 14 in a 3-2 win ironically also at TRU back on Oct. 26, 2019 – but it wasn’t enough in suffering their first loss of the season, 25-16, 24-26, 21-25, 25-21, 12-15.
Erik Godwin led the way for Calgary in this one with 16 kills on .306 hitting while tying his career high with five aces. Tyler Funk added 11 kills on just 20 swings, five digs and four blocks, while Zack Durrant dished out 30 assists on the night.
Louis Kunstmann also had a strong showing, tallying nine kills, eight aces, five digs and three blocks. The eight aces not only doubles his previous career high, it is the most by a Dinos player in a single match in over a decade.
Rylan Ibbetson (15), Sam Flowerday (14) and Corbin Ockerman (12) all reached double figures in kills on the night for TRU, as Sam Elgert ran a nice offence and finished the night with 40 assists.
Calgary scored the first four points of the night and never looked back, calmly cruising to an opening-set win, 25-16.
The second was a much more back-and-forth affair, but it still looked like the Dinos would take the win with a 24-21 lead late. That’s where the match flipped on its head. The WolfPack got red hot, rattling off the next five points to abruptly pull even at 1-1.
The two teams traded the next to sets to send the weekend opener to a decisive fifth set. TRU jumped out to a 6-2 lead early, and that separation proved to just be enough. Calgary clawed its way back to within one multiple times, but the WolfPack once again were able to find a way late for the very tight win.
TRU and Calgary are right back at it Saturday, once again playing right after the women’s contest earlier in the day with a scheduled start time of 5:45 p.m. MT.
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