CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos men’s volleyball team defeated the MacEwan Griffins 3-0 Friday night at Jack Simpson Gym, 25-12, 25-19 and 25-20. With the win, the Dinos improve to 3-0 on the young season while the Griffins (0-3) are still searching for their first win.
Calgary finished the night hitting an incredible .427 overall, limiting MacEwan to just .146 on their attack.
Hamish Hazelden led the way for the Dinos with 10 kills, while the Griffin’s Ethan Nashim led all players with 14 kills.
In the opening set, the Dinos explosive offence was in top shape, finishing with a staggering .500 hitting percentage for the set. Lincoln Baines, Liam Kuppe and Taylor Tracey all got involved early on for the Dinos. Setter Tomas Sorra, who finished with 20 assists through two sets of play, executed the Dinos game plan perfectly.
“It was our game plan,” Sorra said of the even distribution by the Dinos attack. “Usually, we try to stick to more of the middle of the court, running our middle and our pipe ball. As the game goes on, we start to spread it off, because the middle blocker starts to chase…it all starts by establishing the middle and then we can move away from it.”
The game plan proved effective early as the Dinos took the first set 25-12.
The Griffins recovered from the initial punch from the Dinos and the second set was much more competitive. The Griffins coaches made the shift to have four players in the serve receive, allowing MacEwan to better handle the Dinos serves and led to more attacking opportunities for the Griffins.
Alexie Walliser (11 kills), who was held in check for the majority of the first set and Ethan Nashim (14 kills) led the way for the Griffins during the second set, however their efforts were still not enough as the Dinos pulled away after a free ball kill from Sorra to make it 19-16. Although each team recorded 14 kills in the second set, the Dinos were able to capitalize on MacEwan’s errors, winning the second set 25-19.
The third and final set of the game was also very tightly contested. Halfway through, the Dinos had a narrow lead, 16-13. Both teams fought hard down the stretch, with players from both sides looking to make a difference. However, it was the veteran Hamish Hazelden (10 kills) continuing his strong start the season, taking over for Calgary down the stretch.
With the Dinos leading 22-19, Hazelden would score the team’s final three points, with two clutch kills and an ace to seal the set and the match.
The Dinos and Griffins meet again Saturday night at 5 PM at Jack Simpson gym.