CALGARY – The fourth-ranked University of Calgary Dinos added another page to their playbook Sunday to sweep their series with the No. 7 UBC Thunderbirds with a 3-1 win (25-23, 25-27, 25-20, 25-23).
BOX SCORE
A day after eking out a five-set decision on the back of 28 kills by right side Omar Langford, the Dinos got it done in the rubber match with a spread-out offence to move to 9-3 on the season, still in sole possession of second place in the Canada West standings. And they did it on an afternoon where kills abounded and both teams played virtually error-free, up-tempo volleyball.
Setter Ciaran McGovern doled out offensive opportunities equally among his teammates, with four Dinos ending up with more than a dozen kills on the afternoon – and that distribution proved to be the key to Calgary's success in a very tight match-up against a quality opponent.
“As a team we played really well, and that allowed the balance to happen,” said Dinos coach Rod Durrant. “We passed better, and that allowed Ciaran to spread things out more effectively. Both power hitters played better today and our middles were very good, and as a result we were successful.”
The first set was a sign of things to come as the teams combined for just seven errors in a 25-23 Calgary win. The Dinos posted 20 kills in the first set, a stat virtually unheard of, and hit better than 55 per cent in the process. Langford, Andrew Tallas, Graham Vigrass, Chris Hoag, and Oleg Podporin each finished the first set with four kills.
The second went in UBC's favour at 27-25, but the score was tight throughout. A 10-8 UBC lead was the last two-point advantage for either team until the 'Birds scored the set's final point, a kill by Steve Gotch – one of 16 on the day for UBC's offensive leader. Calgary's most obvious struggle in the match came in the serving department, where the Dinos committed 16 service errors; nearly half of those came in the second set.
Calgary led wire-to-wire in the third and held a commanding lead in the fourth before the Thunderbirds scrapped their way back into it. With the Dinos up 22-16 following an ace by Podporin, the T-Birds embarked on a 6-1 run to cut the Calgary lead to just one. UBC would again threaten at 24-23, but Langford's 17th kill of the match ended it in the hosts' favour.
Gotch's 16 paced UBC in the kills category, with Aaron Surkan adding nine and setter Jared Krause seven to go with a match-high 10 digs. The T-Birds hit a respectable 31.5 per cent in the match, committing just 17 errors, but Calgary's 42 per cent efficiency and a 63-52 edge in total kills gave the Dinos the weekend sweep.
While Langford still led the way with 17 kills for the home side, Tallas had a very good afternoon with 14 kills and a 60 per cent efficiency. Middles Vigrass and Podporin had 13 and 12, respectively, with just three errors between them.
The win guarantees the Dinos at least a .500 record for the first time since the 2000-01 season (15-7) and sets Calgary up well for a shot at home-court advantage in the first round of the Canada West playoffs.
“This was a very important weekend for us, so to get out of it with two wins, I'm obviously very pleased with that result,” said Durrant. “It's a compliment to our guys, who have really competed hard and are trying to do the right things. It's a group of 16 guys who are focused and want to succeed, keep improving every day, and see where we can end up. These two matches really helped our situation in a really tight conference.”
After passing their first test of the season's second half, the Dinos face another next weekend when the No. 6 Winnipeg Wesmen pay a visit to the Jack, while UBC (5-5) spends another weekend on the road as they head to Saskatoon to face the 0-12 Saskatchewan Huskies.
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