CALGARY – Seven months removed from their epic national championship match in Fredericton, the re-match between the Calgary Dinos and the UBC Thunderbirds turned out to be not much of a match at all as the T-Birds dominated en route to a 3-0 victory (25-15, 25-16, 25-15).

BOX SCORE

The opening match of the 2009 Husky Dino Cup in the University of Calgary's Jack Simpson Gym saw the two-time defending national champion Thunderbirds control the play in all facets, finishing with big leads on the stats sheet in blocks (13-3), kills (42-27), and hitting percentage (.344 vs. .020).

“UBC is a very good team, and I'd definitely call them favourites for this season again,” said Calgary head coach Jesse Knight. “The scores were a reflection of them playing close to their best and us not playing our best. We executed a lot of good things defensively, but we couldn't score and we didn't put a lot of pressure on them. We're young, and those are the things we need to get better at.”

After giving up the opening point, UBC shot out to a 6-1 lead in the opening set. Calgary would respond to pull within one at 6-5, but that was as close as they would come as the Dinos struggled to put the ball on the floor. UBC quickly reestablished a comfortable lead, cruising to a 25-15 win.

The second set followed much the same script: UBC opened up an early lead, the Dinos fought back to make it close, and the experienced Thunderbirds pulled away. A five-point Calgary run late made the score more respectable for the Dinos, but the 'Birds took control of the match with a 25-16 victory.

As Knight continued to search for his optimal line-up, the Dinos got three kills from Lindsey Doland in the early going of the third set, capitalizing on a couple of UBC errors to take an 8-4 lead into the first technical time out. However, 12 of the next 15 points ended up on the Thunderbirds' side of the scoreboard thanks in large part to the play of Kyla Richey, and an 8-4 Calgary lead was suddenly a 16-11 UBC advantage, and the defending champs never looked back. UBC needed just three kills in the final nine points to seal the match 25-15.

A flock of four Thunderbirds finished with an identical eight kills on the night, with Richey joining Liz Cordonier, Jen Hinze, and Shanice Marcelle. Richey also had an impressive seven blocks, followed by Nicky Osborne's six and five from Hinze.

“Blocking is what UBC does,” said Knight, “and we got a little tentative on offence after seeing four hands quite a bit, and we didn't take advantage of our chances one-on-one.”

Doland was the top weapon for the Dinos both offensively and defensively, finishing with 12 kills on 18 attempts and adding eight blocks. Senior middle Laura Spence finished with six kills, but she also committed five errors – three of which came consecutively late in the third set. Calgary hit just two per cent as a team, with six players in negative territory in the hitting percentage column.

The Thunderbirds fly back to Vancouver to host their own West Coast Classic this weekend at War Memorial Gym, while the Dinos welcome the Brandon Bobcats for a pair of non-conference matches to wrap up the Husky Dino Cup. Friday's match opens at 3 p.m., with a 5 p.m. start for Saturday's tournament closer.

-UC-