Dinos stumble in Crowchild Classic

CALGARY – The Mount Royal University Cougars pulled away late in sets and finished the night with a three-set victory (25-22, 29-27, 25-19) over the University of Calgary Dinos men’s volleyball team on Sunday night at the Jack Simpson Gym.

The Dinos move to 9-5 on the season, while the Cougars improve to a record of 5-9.

“We need to play cleaner volleyball more consistently. We can’t give away those lapses,” said Hamish Hazelden, who put on a strong performance once again, tallying up 18 kills and eight digs.

After a closely contested battle on the court, the Dinos would drop the opening set to the Cougars 25-22.

The Dinos responded by building a 7-4 lead over Mount Royal to start the second. The Cougars wouldn’t go away easily and fought back to tie the game. The Dinos and Cougars continued to exchange points. Mount Royal fought off several set points and eventually turned it in their favour to go up 2-0 with a 29-27 set win.

Mid-way through the third set, Mount Royal was able to find some offensive success and string a lead together to make the score 15-11. The Cougars kept their foot on the gas the rest of the way, winning the set 25-19.

Fourth-year outside hitter Chris Byam played a key role in the Cougars victory as he recorded 22 kills, five digs and one assist.

“We need to bring our best volleyball because we absolutely didn’t do that tonight,” implored Hazelden as he looked ahead to the final weekend of the regular season.

The Dinos will remain at home next weekend as they take on the Alberta Golden Bears in the Jack Simpson Gym, Feb.18-19. Meanwhile, the Cougars head back down Crowchild Trail to host the MacEwan Griffins in Kenyon Court. All of the action can be caught live on Canada West TV, presented by Co-op.