CALGARY – The perfect start to 2024 continued for the University of Calgary Dinos women’s volleyball team with another 3-0 sweep of the Brandon Bobcats Saturday night from the Jack Simpson Gym.
One night after a convincing 3-0 win for the Dinos, Saturday’s rematch was much of the same with another sound victory, 25-12, 25-22, 25-13.
Carolyn Berze was the leader of the Dinos pack in this one with a season-high 10 kills, while Sophie Reed and Sheridan Coninx were right behind her with eight and seven kills, respectively.
Anya Fehr had another impressive performance guiding the offence with 16 assists to help secure the win for Calgary.
The Dinos picked up right where they left off Friday, quickly establishing a 12-4 lead in the first after a kill by Sam Silva. Reed tallied back-to-back service aces in the early going and Calgary was able to run away with the opener, with Reed finishing things off with another kill.
Brandon made the Dinos work much harder for the win in the second. The Dinos started off the set with a 6-3 lead, however the Bobcats fought back with kills from Laura Ramsey and Avery Burger to help tie the set 6-6. The Bobcats continued this momentum and obtained two more points with the help of another kill from Ramsey until Reed broke the streak and brought another 8-8 tie between the two teams. The Dinos then regained their momentum and had a close-out kill from Alice Nikolaychuk to secure their 2-0 lead going into the third set.
In the third set, the Dinos started with a service ace from Reed and kept a lead throughout the rest of the set. A kill by Daisy Olsen made it 14-8 before a block by Silva and Evelyn Kath stretched things to 20-12. Reed – who came into the night with just three aces on the season – finished things off with her eighth ace of the match to emphatically claim the win.
With the weekend sweep, Calgary now improves to 6-8 in conference play on the season, while Brandon falls to 0-14.
The Dinos now start a four-game road swing next weekend with a trip to Kelowna to take on the UBCO Heat, in what could prove to be a pivotal battle for playoff seeding down the stretch. Friday’s first serve is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT.