Dinos drop season opener to Griffins

CALGARY – After a slow start to the night, the MacEwan Griffins bounced back to claim a 3-1 win over the University of Calgary Dinos women’s volleyball team Friday night in the season opener for both teams from the Jack Simpson Gym.

Mariah Bereziuk had a double-double with 16 kills and 13 digs to lead the way for MacEwan, while Payton Shimoda dished out 45 assists in the four-set win.

For Calgary, Sophie Reed led the offence with 14 kills to go with 12 digs. Carolyn Berze just missed a double-double with nine kills and a game-high 15 digs.

The Dinos created separation early in the first set and never looked back. Kills from Daisy Olsen and Evelyn Kath headlined a 4-0 run to make it 19-13 and force a Griffins timeout. The visitors had a nice run of their own, cutting the gap to 22-20 on a kill by Sarah McGee, but the Dinos calmly claimed the first set on a block by rookies Sam Silva and Anya Fehr for the 25-21 win.

MacEwan jumped out to an early lead in the second and led 20-12 late, before the Dinos started a furious comeback effort. Back-to-back aces by Sheridan Coninx made it 20-15. Four consecutive kills by Reed followed by two more from Berze and suddenly the deficit was just one at 22-21. A block by Coninx and Berze kept things close at 24-23, but the Griffins were able to find a way to close things out and even things up.

It was a see-saw battle in the third featuring several lead changes. The two teams were knotted up at 21-all late when the MacEwan attack got hot to claim the win, 25-23.

The Griffins played their most complete set in the fourth, hitting .286 in the frame and limiting Calgary to just .026. A 6-0 run midway through the set put MacEwan ahead 18-13 and they wouldn’t trail the rest of the way in the 25-21 win to close things out.

Six different Dinos recorded an ace in the loss Friday, including Coninx and Berze, who each had three.

Calgary and MacEwan are right back at it Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. from the Jack Simpson Gym.

-UC-