CALGARY - The Dinos women's volleyball team starts down the playoff trail this weekend in the hopes of qualifying for their ninth-straight CIS tournament – the longest active streak in the nation. However, whereas their male counterparts will be guaranteed a spot at nationals with a win this weekend, Canada West will send just three women's teams to Fredericton for the CIS championship Feb. 26-28 – so a win at next week's Final Four in Edmonton will also be necessary.
The Dinos women (16-4) welcome the unranked Regina Cougars (10-10) for the second straight year in the conference quarterfinal, with both teams finishing this season with identical records to the 2007-08 campaign. However, while last year was the 3-vs-6 match-up, the current incarnation pits the second-seeded Dinos against the seventh-seeded Cougars.
Calgary-Regina battles have long been classic, five-set affairs. Seven of the last nine conference meetings between the two squads have gone the distance, including both this season. The Dinos held the advantage in the first six of those five-setters, but a 3-2 win Nov. 29 in Regina was the Cougars' first league victory over the Dinos since 2001.
The Dinos and Cougars also met in the final of the Regina-hosted pre-season tournament, a match the Dinos took in – you guessed it – five sets.
Calgary still holds a commanding lead in the all-time series between the two teams 25-3 and the post-season series 2-0 thanks to last season's 3-0, 3-0 sweep in the opening round at home.
Sophomore middle Solveig Nilson and fifth-year outside hitter Tammy Jule are the two top offensive threats for the Cougars, who had an up-and-down season. Two big wins over Trinity Western early in the year were tempered by a five-match losing streak in November, and Regina enters the weekend having won just one of its last four matches. The first of those four was of particular note to the Dinos, as Regina had a 2-0 lead over Alberta but ended up falling to the Pandas 3-2. Had Regina won that match, the Dinos would have finished first in the conference and hosted the Final Four.
As it unfolded, however, Calgary finished tied for first spot with Alberta at 16-4 and because of head-to-head sets won-lost, the Pandas got the first-round playoff bye. Still, it is an impressive accomplishment for first-year head coach Jesse Knight and the Dinos, who maintained their No. 3 national ranking heading into the post-season.
The Dinos bid farewell to their trio of graduating fifth-year players during the regular season finale last weekend, and Holly Harper, Julie Young, and Lauren Perry will suit up for the last time on the Jack Simpson floor this weekend after standout five-year careers with the Dinos. Harper is a player-of-the-year in 2009 after posting a career-high 295 kills on the season to lead all players in Canada West. Perry also cracked the top 10 in both kills (225) and points (266), while Young's stellar defensive play and timely offence have benefitted both the Dinos and the Canadian national team during her career.
Those three Dinos have added motivation as their varsity careers wind down – they have won the last game of each of their past four seasons, receiving four CIS bronze medals. This time, when they win the last game of their seasons and their careers, they would like nothing more than to spin those four bronzes into gold.
Second-year setter Sarah Lacny, who landed on the CIS all-rookie team last season, came into her own this year. She started wire-to-wire for the Dinos, averaging just over 10 assists per set as the Dinos pounded 1068 kills as a team this season – one of just two squads in the conference to break the millennium mark.
Other women's playoff action this weekend sees UBC host Brandon while Manitoba visits Trinity Western.
The best-of-three series goes Friday and Saturday nights at 6 p.m., with a Sunday matinee scheduled for 1 p.m. if necessary.
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