MVB: Calgary takes Canada West bronze over Brandon to advance to nationals

LANGLEY, British Columbia – The No. 8 Calgary Dinos punched their ticket to the 2021-22 U SPORTS championship with a 3-0 victory over the No. 9 Brandon Bobcats Saturday afternoon at the Langley Events Centre in Langley, B.C. The 25-16, 30-28, 25-23 victory also earns the Dinos the Canada West bronze medal. Calgary finishes the Canada West play-offs at 4-3, while Brandon finishes at 3-4.

Hamish Hazelden with 16 kills, six digs, three aces for 19.5 points, and Lincoln Baines with 10 kills and seven blocks for 14 points led the Dinos, while Joao Cunha with 10 kills, five digs and two blocks for 11 points and Philipp Lauter with six kills, seven blocks, and three digs for 11.5 points led the Bobcats.

AS IT HAPPENED
The start of the match was even with the two teams knotted at 8-8 early. From there the Dinos were able to take control of the opening set and used an 8-2 run to lead 16-10 at the technical timeout. The Bobcats never found their side-out game in the opening set as the Dinos cruised to a 25-16 first set victory. Calgary hit at a solid .481 (15-2-27), while Brandon finished the opening set hitting .125 (10-7-24). Calgary had a 4-2 edge in total blocks. The Dinos had two aces and one error, while the Bobcats had one ace and one error to start the match.

The second set was back and forth and ended in extra points. Calgary led early 10-7, but the Bobcats responded to take a 16-13 lead at the technical timeout. The two teams were even at 20-20, when Brandon took three straight to lead 23-20. But Calgary responded to tie the set at 23-23. Calgary fended of four Brandon set points, before taking the second set 30-28. Calgary finished the set hitting at .200 (14-7-35), while Brandon hit at .114 (13-9-35). The Bobcats had a 4-3 edge in total blocks. Brandon had two aces and five errors, while Calgary had two aces and six errors.

As in the first two sets the teams were even early at 8-8. But in the middle section of the set the Dinos found separation from the Bobcats as they took a 16-13 lead into the technical timeout. The Bobcats battled to catch the Dinos, but were unable to get even. Calgary led 23-19 and Brandon scrambled back to trail 24-23, but the Dinos took the final point to win the set 25-23 and the match 3-0.

NOTABLE

• The Dinos are 10-16 lifetime in Canada Wet conference play against the Bobcats.
• Calgary and Brandon split the season series, 2-2, this season with both winning at home.
• The last time the Bobcats and the Dinos met in the post season was in 2019-20 when Brandon beat Calgary two matches to none, winning 3-0 and 3-1 in Brandon.
• Calgary finished the night hitting .281 (40-13-96), while Brandon finished at .099 (35-26-91).
• The Dinos finished with 14.5 total blocks, while the Bobcats finished with nine total blocks.
• Calgary also had a 4-3 lead in service aces.

QUOTABLE
Calgary Head Coach Rod Durrant
“Very excited for our group. They’ve worked really hard. They had a goal at the beginning of the year to get to a national championship and they’ve done that. Really pleased with the way we came out and won the first set, and played our best volleyball. The next sets were really close. Brandon is a solid team and they really pushed us with their block and their defence. They played really great defence, but we were able to find a way and win a couple of really tight sets.”

“Our guys play as a team, we don’t have one guy who really stands out. It was a good solid team effort and because of that we have earned an opportunity to go to a national championship.”

UP NEXT
With the win the Calgary Dinos advance to the U SPORTS national championship next weekend at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, MB.  

ABOUT CANADA WEST
Since 1972, Canada West (CW) has been a leader in Canadian university sport, working to provide our student-athletes the opportunities to excel in sport, the classroom, and their communities. CW and our 17 members from across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba collectively carry on a legacy of competitive excellence, as our champions proudly go on to represent the conference at U SPORTS national championships.

Canada West – training leaders, building champions.

-TW-