CALGARY – The University of Calgary Dinos won their first game of the 2021-22 season in three sets (25-19, 25-22, 25-21) over the MacEwan University Griffins at the Jack Simpson Gym on Friday evening.
The Dinos’ rookies played a pivotal part in the team’s first win – led by Sophie Reed who recorded nine kills, four digs, and three service aces. Fellow first-year Dinos Evelyn Kath and Michaela Alongi were also key as Calgary responded from a pair of losses on opening weekend.
“I thought our aggression at the net was [the best] we’ve played including the preseason. We really didn’t let our mistakes affect us as much as we did last weekend,” said Reed. “We want to build on [the Griffins] errors, capitalize on those mistakes and continue to play aggressively.”
The Dinos would take a 6-2 lead in the first set, followed by a Griffins comeback in the middle of the set to make the game 13-13. However, four attack errors made by the Griffins, six combined kills from Reed, Deserae Unger, Regan Ingram, and Sheridan Coninx, and a service ace from Kenzie Vaandering gave the Dinos the first set 25-19.
After being down 20-15 in the second set, the Griffins came back to make it a two-score game. But after a kill from Vaandering, their team captain, the Dinos were able to pull away to secure the set by a 25-22 score.
The Dinos would take the lead in the third set 17-13 before the Griffins answered back making the score 20-19. But three kills and a service ace for the Dinos and an attack error made by the Griffins wrapped up the third set 25-21.
Alyshia Bryks collected nine kills, six digs, four service aces, and one block to lead MacEwan.
Both teams will be back Saturday night at the Jack Simpson Gym as the Dinos look to go .500 and the Griffins hunt for their first win of the season. The first serve is at 6:30 p.m. and can be seen live on Canada West.tv, presented by Co-op.
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