Dinos return home to battle Wesmen

CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos men’s volleyball team (5-9) will host the Winnipeg Wesmen (6-8) for two games this weekend at the Jack Simpson Gym in Calgary. The Dinos will play their first home games of 2023, after travelling to UFV this past weekend.
 
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW

– The last meeting between Calgary and Winnipeg was a certified classic. In the final game of last year’s Canada West postseason group stage, Winnipeg defeated Calgary in five sets in a must-win scenario for the Wesmen. Both teams would ultimately go on to advance to the next stage.
 
2. JOCKEYING FOR POSITION – Just a single game separates the Wesmen and the Dinos in the Canada West standings. If the season ended today, both Calgary and Winnipeg would miss the playoffs, something that is unheard of for these programs. Currently, the Thompson Rivers WolfPack (6-6) and the Manitoba Bisons (6-8) occupy the final two playoff spots. Depending on how other teams perform across the division, Calgary or Winnipeg could see themselves vaulting into a playoff position after this weekend.
 
3. HISTORY OF THE MATCHUP – Historically the Dinos have dominated this matchup, owning a 20-6 conference record over the Wesmen. Dating back to 2018, Calgary has won four of the last five matchups. A peek back even further and the Dinos have claimed 12 of the last 15 in the head-to-head series.
 
4. REFRESHED REINFORCEMENTS – Dinos second-year middle Louis Kunstmann returned to action last weekend against the Cascades. Following a strong start to his second season, Kunstmann missed four games while recovering from an injury. Luckily for the Dinos and Kunstmann, there was also a league-wide break over the winter holidays which provided Kunstmann with more time to recover. Kunstmann currently leads CW in hitting percentage, operating at a 41.3 percent clip.
 
5. STANDOUT SENIORS – Winnipeg fourth-year outside Nigel Nielsen has been outstanding throughout the 2022-23 season for the Wesmen. Thus far, Nielsen has compiled 165 kills and leads his team both in total kills and kills per set (3.75), with the latter currently ranking sixth in CW action. On the other side of the net, Liam Kuppe has stepped up in a big way for the Dinos. The local product first joined the Dinos in 2017 and has been a steady contributor throughout his entire career. However, this year the fifth-year senior has shouldered a larger offensive role, leading all Dinos hitters with 2.28 kills per set, the best of his career.
 
-UC-