LANGLEY, B.C. – The third-ranked Calgary Dinos rebounded from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the No. 8 Trinity Western Spartans 3-2 (23-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-23, 15-11) Friday night at the David E. Enarson Gym.
BOX SCORE
The loss was the Spartans' third straight to open the season and spoiled their home opener, while the win vaults the still-undefeated Dinos to 3-0 on the young campaign.
“There are all kinds of ways to win, and tonight we found a new one,” said Calgary head coach Jesse Knight. “The story of this game was just our composure and our ability to keep fighting.”
Despite posting 10 errors to go with 10 kills in the opening set, the Dinos still managed to tie it at 23-23 before conceding the final two points to the home side. And in the second set, Trinity Western never trailed en route to the 25-20 victory.
Cue the comeback.
The Dinos jumped out to a seven-point lead in the third after a 10-3 run to open the set and looked to be in control. However, Calgary let the Spartans go on a 10-3 run of their own, and Trinity Western seemed poised to take the match with a 19-16 lead. From there, the tandem of Holly Harper and Laura Spence paced the Dinos to a 5-0 run and a lead they would not relinquish, eventually taking it 25-22.
The teams were neck-and-neck throughout the fourth set, with no more than three points separating them. Another 5-0 run for the Dinos turned a 13-10 deficit into a 15-13 lead, and this time it was Calgary that was able to convert a 23-23 tie into a 25-23 victory, setting up the fifth and deciding set.
Helped along by solid blocking by the Dinos, the Spartans committed nine attack errors in the fifth set and, despite just a nine per cent hitting efficiency on their part, Calgary needed just five kills in the fifth set to complete the comeback with a 15-11 win.
Knight praised his entire team for their determination after falling into a 2-0 hole.
“It was a big night for us because different people stepped up at different times,” he said. “We really bore down defensively and got some big digs. Holly (Harper) and Laura (Spence) really pushed through offensively close to the end of the match.”
Four Dinos had at least 13 digs on the night, led by Raynell Lavertu's 21,
Harper led all players with 19 kills on the night, while fellow senior Lauren Perry chipped in with 17 for Calgary. Spence added six kills and just a single error for the Dinos, along with a team-high four blocks, while freshman middle Ali Sandholm also had a solid six kills on the night.
The Spartans, who lost just one match in the pre-season – that to Calgary at the Husky Dino Cup – fall to 0-3 in Canada West play following an upset sweep by the Regina Cougars last weekend in the Saskatchewan capital. Carmen Dyck, a transfer from Calgary's Mount Royal College, led the way for the Spartans with 18 kills, while Kim Klassen added 11 and Dayna Jansen Van Doorn posted nine.
The Dinos and Spartans meet in the rubber match on Saturday, Nov. 1 with a 6 p.m. MT start time in Langley.
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