BRANDON, Man. – The Brandon Bobcats will have to wait just a little longer for that Canada West win, but came oh so close Saturday night at the HLC.
The Bobcats battled Calgary in a back-and-forth affair that ended up in favour of the Dinos, 3-2 (25-17, 23-25, 18-25, 25-20, 15-10).
Keely Anderson had a career-high 17 kills to go with 15 digs and six blocks in a match that the Bobcats showed lots of life and plenty of fight.
Rookies Thoms and Laura Ramsey impressed in their first Canada West starts. Thoms had a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs while Ramsey had six kills and 15 digs.
Marly Pellerin also had a strong showing with nine blocks.
The Dinos were led by Sophie Reed’s team-high 16 kills, while second-year libero Michela Alongi had a career-high 26 digs.
Calgary jumped to an early 4-1 lead in the first and hung on to the nominal lead until a 10-4 run late, capped by an ace from third-year outside Anna Wittenberg.
Calgary kept the pressure on in the second with four straight points to start the set before a serving run from Carly Thomson made it 5-4 Brandon.
Brandon went on a run to lead by as much as eight in the second set, but the Dinos didn’t roll over. Regan Ingram came in for Calgary and helped significantly. The Dinos tied it 22-22 before the Bobcats narrowly put it away 25-23.
Brandon’s momentum carried into the third set, to take control of the match at 2-1. The Dinos dug deep to fight back in the fourth however, as many of the rallies were long and the Dinos utilized outstanding defence to seal the victory.
The win improves Calgary’s record to 10-7, while the Bobcats sit at 0-17.
The rematch goes Saturday at the BU Healthy Living Centre.
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