Dinos travel down Crowchild for second round playoffs

CALGARY – After advancing through pool play last weekend, the University of Calgary Dinos women’s volleyball team’s post-season run continues this weekend with two more contests.

As one of the final six teams still playing in Canada West, the Dinos will play in a three-team pool, starting Friday. First up is a Crowchild Classic rematch with the host Mount Royal Cougars, before taking on the UBC Thunderbirds on Saturday. Both contests will be at 6 p.m. at MRU’s Kenyon Court and are scheduled to be streamed live on Canada West TV, presented by Co-op.

HOW WE GOT HERE
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 heartbreakingly dropped its opening match to Brandon before falling to TWU. But, the Dinos handled their business against Fraser Valley to finish in a three-way tie for second in their pool, advancing based on tiebreakers.

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 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
Mount Royal | Friday, 6 p.m. | Kenyon Court

• The Cougars finished the regular season with a 14-4 mark in conference play to finish second in the Canada West Central Division.
• MRU won its pool last weekend, opening up with a 3-2 win over UBC-Okanagan before sweeping through Manitoba and host Saskatchewan.
• The Dinos will look to reverse a trend this weekend, as they’ve dropped nine straight to Mount Royal, including six in this year’s unique scheduling. The two teams do have some playoff history, as well, with Calgary ending MRU’s season to advance to the U SPORTS Championship after a two-game sweep back in February of 2018.

UBC | Saturday, 6 p.m. | Kenyon Court

• The Thunderbirds finished 9-7 in the regular season this year, good for second in the CW East.
• In pool play, UBC opened with a 3-1 win over Winnipeg before a sweep of Regina on day two. The T-birds closed things out with a 3-1 upset over host Alberta to win their pool.
• There is plenty of history between Calgary and UBC, including plenty of recent playoff history. Overall, the Dinos and T-birds have split the last two regular-season series, with each team sweeping their home series. In postseason play, the Dinos advanced to the CW Final in 2019 after a two-game sweep of UBC. Calgary also beat the T-birds in 2018 to win the Canada West title, only to fall to UBC one week later in the national bronze medal game.

UP NEXT
The top two teams from each of this weekend’s two pools of three teams will advance to the Canada West Final Four, scheduled for March 18-19, hosted by the pool winner with the best regular-season record.