CALGARY – The No. 6 Manitoba Bisons dominated in all facets of the game, sweeping the fifth-ranked Calgary Dinos 3-0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-17) to earn both ends of their weekend series Saturday night at the Jack Simpson Gym.
BOX SCORE
Manitoba jumps to 4-2 on the season with their victory, while Calgary falls to 2-4 to start the season.
The turning point in this one came early. After falling 3-1 to the Bisons Friday night, Calgary came out firing and jumped out to an early 9-3 lead in the first set. Errors began to plague the Dinos from there, however, as Manitoba embarked on a 13-3 run to take a 16-12 lead. No fewer than 10 of those 16 Bison points came as a result of errors by the Dinos, and Manitoba rode the momentum it gained from that run to a 25-20 opening-set win.
Runs were the story in the following two sets as well – Manitoba went on a 7-0 run at the start of the second set and outscored the Dinos 9-3 to open the third.
“Manitoba is an excellent volleyball team, and they played great today, there's really not much else I can say,” said Calgary head coach Jesse Knight. “We're still young, we're still inconsistent, and we need to improve. I was impressed with our effort tonight, but not with our performance.”
The Bisons hit at a 30.6 per cent efficiency, almost double the clip that the Dinos were able to muster (15.8). Manitoba held statistical advantages in all categories, including kills (43-35), digs (43-39), blocks (8-4.5), and aces (6-2).
“All the credit to Manitoba tonight, they really outworked and out-defended us,” Knight said.
Kristi Hunter led the way for Manitoba with 12 kills on the night, hitting at an impressive 45 per cent efficiency. Tricia Mayba added nine kills to go with four blocks, while Ashley Voth and Sarah Morrissette added seven each.
For the Dinos,
Laura Spence went 10-for-18 in a losing cause, adding just one error to hit .500 in the match.
Lindsey Doland added 10 kills of her own, while
Raynell Lavertu was the only other Dino with better than two kills – but her seven were diminished by eight errors on the night. Libero
Sarah Moncks led Calgary with 10 digs, while her Manitoba counterpart, Nicole Hall, led all players with 14.
The Bisons head back to Winnipeg where they will take on their cross-town rival Wesmen next weekend, while the Dinos will hit the road to visit the Thompson Rivers WolfPack for a two-game set in Kamloops.
-UC-
