KELOWNA, B.C. – Zach Evans tied his season-high with 17 kills to go with a career-high 13 digs to help lead the University of Calgary Dinos men’s volleyball team to a 3-1 win over the UBC-Okanagan Sunday afternoon from the UBCO Gymnasium.
In a game that was originally scheduled for Friday evening but was moved due to travel issues created by a nation-wide weather system, the Dinos jumped out to a 2-0 lead before splitting the next two that proved to be sets that went well into extras before finishing things off, 25-23, 25-22, 28-30, 38-36.
Evens big game came with an efficient performance at the net, hitting .395 with just two errors on 38 swings. Louis Kunstmann also had a double-double with 16 kills and 11 digs. Jackson Meier hit .500 with 11 kills, while Erik Godwin tallied 10 kills, eight digs and three aces.
Austin Ellchuk had another strong defensive performance with a game-high 17 digs, while Anders Bouck dished out 42 assists in the four-set win.
Zach van Geel led the way for the Heat with a game-high 23 kills and 12 digs. Seba Manuel added 13 kills and Cade Hudson stuffed the stat sheet with 51 assists, seven digs and five blocks.
Kunstmann had the hot hand for the Dinos in the opening frame. One of his five kills in the set gave his squad a 16-12 edge midway through. UBCO battled back and claimed a 22-21 lead, only to see Calgary rattle off four of the next five – spearheaded by two kills and two blocks by Kunstmann.
In the second, the Dinos jumped out to a 12-5 lead early and led the rest of the way. The Heat started to find its rhythm late, pulling to within one at 22-21, but an ace by Zack Durrant closed things out and quickly made it 2-0.
That’s where the game turned from what looked to be repeat of Saturday’s 3-0 sweep into a memorable marathon match. UBCO got things going early and led 23-18 late, only to see Calgary use a 7-1 run to set up match point. But the two teams would trade blows before the Heat were the ones to score consecutive points in extras as Manuel’s six kill of the set gave the home team life at 2-1.
Fast forward to late in the fourth when UBCO led 22-19 and looked to be closing in on forcing this one to a fifth set. But the Dinos rallied knotting things up at 25-all on a kill by Godwin. Things went deep into extras from there with each point carrying more weight than normal. Back-to-back uncharacteristic errors by the Dinos gave the Heat set point at 35-36, but a block by Evans and Meier drew things back to level before two straight kills by Kunstmann to finally put an end to this one.
Calgary improves to 7-9 in conference play with the weekend sweep, while the Heat fall to 1-15.
Up next for both squads are a pair of rivalry matches. The Dinos have a Battle of Alberta on the slate with a Friday-Saturday set in Edmonton, while the Heat travel to Kamloops to take on Thompson Rivers.