Dinos hold home court in national quarter-final

CALGARY – After two years, the wait is finally over.

The University of Calgary Dinos women’s volleyball team will finally get to host the U SPORTS National Championships Tournament this weekend – two years after being scheduled to do so but having it whipped out with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Dinos have been building all season and, under first-year head coach Christine Biggs, are ready to show the best in Canada what they can do this weekend by hosting 11 games in three days from inside the Jack Simpson Gym. The action starts Friday at 1 p.m., with the gold-medal match scheduled for 6 p.m. Sunday. Livestreaming in English is available for free worldwide on CBCSports.ca, CBC Gem and the CBC Sports App, with French digital coverage carried on USPORTS.ca. and TVA Sports.

POST-SEASON HISTORY
This marks the 22nd time since 1982 that the Dinos will compete at the U SPORTS National Championship Tournament, and the third in a row after finishing fourth in 2018 and seventh in 2019. It also marks the fourth time Calgary will serve as hosts, having also done so in 1991, 2006 and 2007. The Dinos will be looking to add to their trophy case, having won the national championship previously four times – most recently in 2004.

HOW WE GOT HERE
The Dinos finished the regular season with a 5-13 conference record, placing them third in the Canada West Central and into “Pool A,” hosted by the CW West regular-season champion in Trinity Western. Calgary dropped its opening match in heartbreaking fashion to Brandon before falling to TWU. But, the Dinos handled their business against Fraser Valley to finish in a three-way tie for second in their pool, advancing based on tiebreakers. Calgary battled hard in their second round of action but saw their Canada West post-season run come to an end after tight losses to Mount Royal and UBC.

REGULAR-SEASON REWIND
Under first-year head coach Christine Biggs, the Dinos had an up-and-down regular season. Despite finishing with a 5-13 record, Calgary improved as the season went along, taking a set from top-seeded Alberta in the season’s penultimate series – one of just 11 sets dropped by the Pandas all season. Despite fielding one of the youngest squads in the conference, the Dinos still had plenty of bright spots. Rookie Sheridan Coninx tied for sixth in Canada West in blocks, averaging 0.86 per set. Meanwhile, fellow first-year Michela Alongi ranked fourth in CW with 3.68 digs per set at the libero position.

SCOUTING REPORT
Trinity Western | Friday, 6 p.m. | Jack Simpson Gym

• No. 1 ranked Trinity Western finished the regular season with a near-perfect 15-1 record. The Spartans have since gone 6-1 overall in post-season play, sweeping through their opening pool before dropping a five-setter with Alberta on their home court in the second round before taking down the Pandas in a rematch in the Canada West Championship.
• A trio of Spartans earned post-season honours this year, as Avery Heppell and Savannah Purdy were both named Canada West First Team All-Stars, while Kaylee Plouffe was named to the CW All-Rookie squad.
• This year marks the second consecutive and 10th time overall the Spartans have qualified for nationals. TWU will be looking for its second title, having previously claimed gold back in 2015.
• The Dinos and Spartans will be squaring off for the second time this post-season, meeting in the first round of pool play in Langley that saw TWU win, 3-0. Calgary will look for its first win against Trinity Western since a weekend sweep at the tail end of the 2017-18 season inside The Jack.

THE REST OF THE FIELD
Calgary will go up against either fourth-seeded Toronto or fifth-seeded McGill in its second matchup at nationals. Meanwhile, the other side of the bracket will get things kicked off with the opening matchup of No. 2 Brock going up against No. 7 Mount Royal. The second matchup of the day will also feature a Canada West representative, as No. 3 Alberta will square off against No. 6 Dalhousie.