CALGARY – One night after a hard-fought four-set win, the University of Calgary Dinos powered to a 3-0 sweep of the UBC Thunderbirds Saturday night from inside the Jack Simpson Gym.
The Dinos (10-10) were in rhythm seemingly all night and hit .307 on the night, finishing the pivotal sweep to boost their playoff positioning with the win, 25-20, 25-16, 29-27.
Louis Kunstmann was one of three Dinos in double figures in kills on the night with a team-high 12 to go with four blocks. Liam Kuppe added 11 kills while hitting .474 for the match, while Erik Godwin chipped in with 10.
Zack Durrant once again orchestrated the offence masterfully, dishing out 30 assists in the win.
Michael Dowhaniuk led the way for the T-Birds (11-9) with 10 kills, seven digs and a pair of aces.
Calgary was quickly able to create some separation in the first set and they never looked back. Tied at 10-all, the Dinos rattled off four in a row to jump ahead, capped by a block by Godwin and Lincoln Baines. The lead streaked to 22-16 before UBC made a late push, but Kuppe hammered home the winner to give Calgary the early lead.
The second set was all Dinos. With the offence rolling and the defence forcing a number of mistakes across the net, Calgary jumped out to a 15-8 lead. Jackson Meier finished things off as the Scarlet & Gold hit .333 for the set while holding UBC to hit negative for the frame.
Set three was a back-and-forth affair the whole way. The Dinos looked like they had UBC on the ropes with a 24-21 lead, only to see the Thunderbirds respond with a 3-0 run to send this one to extras. Knotted at 27, Calgary took advantage of a service error to go ahead before Kunstmann smashed one off the block to seal the sweep.
Up next is a trip to Saskatchewan next weekend for Calgary for a weekend series against the Huskies, starting Friday. Meanwhile, UBC returns home to take on a Winnipeg squad making a late push at a playoff spot.
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