BRANDON, Man. – If this weekend's showdown between the Brandon Lady Bobcats and Calgary Dinos were a heavyweight boxing match, the Dinos landed an extremely powerful opening punch Friday night.
The No. 2-ranked team in the nation cruised to a 3-1 victory (25-16, 25-21, 20-25, 25-18) over the sixth-ranked Bobcats in Canada West women's volleyball action at the BU Gym.
BOX SCORE
The Dinos (12-3) have now won five straight matches, while the Bobcats (10-5) have suffered back-to-back losses to fall four points back of Calgary for third place in the conference.
"It was a real strong offensive performance for us tonight," said Calgary head coach Jesse Knight. "Both teams really came out swinging and we saw some of the hardest hitting I've seen all year. Holly Harper and Laura Wilson really led us in that area, and our defense down the stretch in sets really made the difference for us."
The Bobcats started the match with back-to-back points before the Dinos rattled off seven in a row to grab a commanding lead they wouldn't relinquish. The second set began in a much more pleasant manner for BU, with the 'Cats racing out to a 15-10 advantage. But that was when things started to unravel – the Dinos won nine of the next 10 points, captured the game, and gained a hearty dose of momentum heading into the third set.
It appeared as though history would repeat itself in the set number three. The Bobcats open a 17-12 lead, gave up seven of the next nine points, but then managed to steady themselves and close the frame on a 6-1 run. However, on the final play of the set, Brandon right-side Nicole Ban landed awkwardly and was forced to leave the match with an injured left knee.
"That was a pretty big distraction," noted Brandon coach Lee Carter, "She's a very popular girl on our team, a real leader, and she was having a career night. She was playing awesome. It's just very unlucky."
Ban's loss really did seem to deflate the Bobcats, with Calgary dominating play on both sides of the net in the fourth frame. The Dinos grabbed an 8-3 edge at the first technical timeout, led by as many as seven points, and won the set going away.
Teagan Hunter paced the Brandon attack with 17 kills, while Ban had 10. Harper led Calgary with 20 kills, Lauren Perry had 17, and Wilson added 14.
The win was a measure of revenge for the Dinos, who lost in four sets to Brandon at the Innisbrook Resort Invitational in Clearwater, Florida last month.
However, the Bobcats and Dinos aren't done just yet – the two squads will square off once again in the weekend finale Saturday night at the BU Gym.
With just three losses on the season, the Dinos sit alone in second place in Canada West, two points behind first place Alberta, with two matches in hand. The first-place team following the regular season gets the all-important playoff bye and the right to host the Canada West Final Four, from which the top three teams will head to the CIS Championship in Fredericton, N.B.
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