CALGARY – One night after a 3-0 loss, the Calgary Dinos women’s volleyball team returned the favour with an impressive bounce-back sweep (25-16, 25-21, 25-18) over UBC Okanagan Saturday night in the Jack Simpson Gym.
The win is a big one for the Dinos as they now move to 3-7 in conference play on the year and now head into the winter break on a positive note. Meanwhile, the Heat close out 2024 at 4-6 – sitting in a playoff spot at the midway point of the Canada West season.
Robyn McLean made her first career start and made the most of it – stuffing the stat sheet with eight kills while hitting .316 to go with four digs and two aces – all career highs.
Daisy Olsen and Sophia Hansen led the Dinos in kills for the night, with Hansen tallying a game-high 12 with Olsen right behind at 11.
Amaya Perry led the way for the Heat with a team-high 11 kills while hitting .417 to go with nine digs, one ace and one block.
Amelia Anderson ran a smooth attack for the Dinos and finished the night with 27 assists, while Kylan Kinseth dished out 17 assists for the Heat.
In the first set, the Dinos jumped out of the gates on fire for a quick 16-5 lead. 16 kills and two aces kept the Dinos momentum and held the Heat in check. The Dinos maintained their upper hand and cruised to an opening-set win, 25-16.
Set two saw an awakened Heat squad with a back-and-forth frame the whole way. The two teams were tied 10 times and traded the lead five times in this one. Equal play had the Heat with 13 kills two aces and one block, while the Dinos managed 14, two and two. But, after a brief run by UBCO to knot things up at 21-all, Calgary used a timeout to regroup and finish on a 4-0 run. Olsen had a pair of kills during the run before teaming up with Ava Fontaine for a block to close out set two.
The third and final set saw a consistent battle between the two teams, but Calgary jumped out to a 6-4 lead early and never trailed the rest of the way. UBCO kept things close as a block by Perry and Marija Josipovic closed the gap to three at 18-15, but the Dinos finished things off on a 7-3 run with a fitting final kill coming from McLean to send her team home with the win.
“I grew up in Calgary, so it means a lot to get some court time and have an opportunity,” McLean said postgame. “We’ve had a lot of team bonding and getting to know a lot of new faces on the court, which is exciting heading into the next semester.
“Tonight, everyone was taking care of their own jobs and space, and working as a team with a lot of communication helped us click tonight. Evvia Belireau stood out to me tonight. She’s been my libero for six years and she gives a lot of support and talk on the court.”
Both teams will enjoy a month off from Canada West action, with the Dinos returning to the court Jan. 11-12 to host Saskatchewan, while the Heat host UBC that same weekend.