CALGARY – Senior Holly Harper pounded 21 kills while posting a sparking 56 per cent attack efficiency as the seventh-ranked Calgary Dinos completed a weekend sweep of the No. 3 UBC Thunderbirds with a 3-1 Sunday afternoon win in the Jack Simpson Gym (25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 26-24).
BOX SCORE
The sweep moves the Dinos to 9-3 on the season, making the likelihood of a home playoff weekend much stronger, and setting them up well for the stretch drive, while UBC falls to 7-5 on the year.
While Harper's stats stood out as the key to the Dinos' victory, head coach Jesse Knight pointed to solid play from every player on the floor as the reason for Calgary's success
“Harper led the way for sure, but we had contributions from everybody and a really balanced offence today,” said Knight, just after earning a sweep over the team he helped lead to the national championship last season. “The big key for me doesn't really show up in the stats. UBC's strength is their block and, not only did we match them in blocks, but block touches were huge for us. That might have been the difference in the match, as we were able to convert at key moments.”
Stuff blocks were down for both sides after Saturday's epic series opener, a 3-2 Calgary win. After posting 18 team blocks in the first match, UBC managed just six Sunday – a total that was matched by the Dinos, who posted 12 in their first win of the weekend. Once again, very little separated the two teams statistically, with both notching 51 kills and the 'Birds out-attacking the Dinos by a slim margin.
UBC jumped out to an early 8-5 lead in the opening set, but the Dinos quickly tied it up and took the lead with a 4-0 run. As the set progressed Calgary slowly began to increase its lead, taking a 16-11 edge into the second technical break. The Dinos eventually set up set point at 24-14 and, after a brief scare in the form of a 4-0 UBC run, took the first 25-18 on a Lauren Perry kill.
The T-Birds took an early lead in the second as well, and again Calgary bounced back to tie. This time, however, it was UBC that responded to take the lead, and the T-Birds never trailed again en route to a tight 25-23 win.
The two evenly-matched teams continued their point-for-point play through the final two sets, with Calgary taking 25-22 and 26-24 wins, extending their home undefeated streak to six matches.
Kyla Richey was once again the top offensive player for UBC with 18 kills, but she also committed 10 errors along the way. Shanice Marcelle and Marisa Field contributed eight kills apiece, while Claire Hanna posted 13 digs.
Perry and Julie Young also had eight kills each, with Perry leading all players with 15 digs. The Dinos' middle tandem of Laura Littlejohn and Laura Spence also contributed to the victory with six and five, respectively, while getting hands on several UBC attacks to keep the ball in play.
UBC and Calgary both make road trips east next weekend as Canada West play continues, and both will take on weaker teams in the conference standings. The Thunderbirds head to Saskatoon to take on the Saskatchewan Huskies (2-10), while the Dinos make the trip to Winnipeg to face the 1-11 Wesmen.
-UC-
