Dinos road to nationals takes them to the west coast

CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos women’s volleyball team begins its playoff season starting Thursday in British Columbia.

Calgary will take on Brandon, Trinity Western and Fraser Valley in three consecutive days. All three games are scheduled to be streamed live on Canada West TV.

PLAYOFF PREVIEW
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 will also go up against Brandon and Fraser Valley in pool play.

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 is tied for sixth in Canada West in blocks, averaging 0.86 per set. Meanwhile, fellow first-year Michela Alongi ranks fourth in CW with 3.68 digs/set at the libero position.

SCOUTING REPORT
BRANDON | Thursday, 7 p.m. MT | Abbotsford, BC

• The Bobcats finished the regular season with a 9-7 mark – good for second place in the Canada West East Division.
• Head coach Lee Carter – the program’s only coach since its inception in 2005 – saw his club finish the season strong, winning five of its last seven.
• The Dinos and Bobcats have plenty of history but did not face each other this season. The last time the two squads squared off was a home-series sweep by Calgary on Jan. 17-18, 2020.

TRINITY WESTERN | Friday, 7:30 p.m. MT | Langley, BC

• The Spartans capped off their nearly perfect regular season with a 15-1 record in Canada West play. That not only earned them the No. 1 spot in the Canada West West Division but also has them ranked No. 1 in all of U SPORTS.
• Third-year outside hitter Savannah Purdy leads the nation with 40 total service aces on the year, while teammate Avery Heppell ranks third in Canada in hitting percentage at .377 for the year.
• Trinity Western has had the Dinos’ number of late, winning the last six in the head-to-head between the two schools.

FRASER VALLEY | Saturday, 5 p.m. MT | Abbotsford, BC

• The co-hosting Cascades finished with a 6-10 record and the fourth spot in the West Division.
• After starting conference play 5-5, UFV dropped the next five in a row before finishing the regular season with a 3-1 home win over UBC Okanagan.
• Calgary has very little history with the upstart Cascades but did play them twice in the preseason this year, with each team winning on the opposing team’s court back in October.

UP NEXT
The top two teams from each of the three opening-round pools will advance in this year’s playoffs to the second week of pool play, hosted by two of the three opening-round pool winners.