FREDERICTON – For the eighth straight year the University of Calgary Dinos will compete for a medal at the CIS Women's Volleyball Championship after a 3-0 quarterfinal win over the Ontario champion York Lions Thursday at UNB's Aitken Centre in Fredericton, N.B. (25-18, 25-21, 25-21).
Championship website: www.cisport.ca/e/championships/w_volleyball/2009
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Calgary will take on the winner of the Montreal-UNB quarterfinal in the national semi-final Friday night at 8 p.m. local / 5 p.m. MT, with the winner of that match advancing to the CIS championship match Saturday night.
Entering the tournament as the fourth seed, the Dinos were matched up with the OUA champion for the second straight season – and both times Calgary emerged victorious in straight sets (McMaster, 2008).
“In my five years here, that was absolutely the best Ontario team I've seen,” said first-year Calgary head coach Jesse Knight of the Lions, who were just one match shy of an undefeated season heading into the national tournament. “That is really a tribute to how well we played, that we got it done in three sets.”
York came out strong defensively in the opening set, and the teams exchanged points with several long rallies. Five of the Lions' seven blocks on the night came in the opening set, including three on Canada West player of the year Holly Harper. One of those blocks tied the set at 10-10, but that was as close as York would get.
Nearly half of both teams' digs came in the first frame as well, and winning the early defensive battle set the tone for the rest of the night for Calgary.
“They (York) really scrapped tonight,” Knight said. “We weren't really putting the ball away in the first set, so I'm really happy with the way we responded defensively, and that was really the difference in that first set.”
Calgary opened up a six-point lead in the second set at 11-6 before the Lions fought back to within one point at 16-14. That's where sophomore Calgary left side Laura Wilson took over.
Wilson re-established a two-point Dinos lead with a kill, then stepped back to serve after the side out. Four of the next five Calgary points came via aces from the national teamer, and the set was essentially over when the Lions finally regained serve.
She finished with seven kills and five aces on the night and was a key player in the Calgary win.
“The big key for Wilson in that run was that she moved the ball around,” said Knight. “She hit four different spots with those serves, and offensively, they were yelling line when she would hit cross-court. That balance from her was just tremendous.”
The Lions led most of the early part of the third set, taking an 8-6 lead into the first technical time out. An ace by Calgary senior Lauren Perry tied it at 8-8, and Calgary took over from there. Another Wilson ace made it 23-19 Calgary, and back-to-back kills from Perry sealed Calgary's eighth straight trip to the national semi-final.
Perry, who earned player of the match honours for the Dinos, finished with nine kills and 13 digs, tied with libero Raynell Lavertu and York rookie Thinesa Sriskandarajah for the match high. Harper was Calgary's offensive leader with 11 kills and teamed up with Laura Spence to record five blocks apiece.
Freshman middle Kristina Vlcek paced the Lions with 11 kills on the night, while Sriskandarajah and Angela Frawley had six apiece. Senior libero Antonia Stathakos put up 10 digs for York, which moves to the consolation side of the bracket.
After four straight CIS bronze medals, the Dinos will try once more to advance to the national final for the first time since 2004 when they won it all when they take on either Montreal or UNB Friday night.
Earlier Thursday, the Canada West champion UBC Thunderbirds overcame a shocking first-set defeat at the hands of Atlantic champion Moncton to take a 3-1 win, advancing one step further on the road to defending their national title. They will take on the sixth-seeded Laval Rouge et Or, who upset the No. 3 Trinity Western Spartans in four sets in their quarterfinal.
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