REGINA – The Calgary Dinos earned a big road win in Canada West action Friday night, dropping the Regina Cougars 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 23-25, 15-7) at the Centre for Kinesiology, Health, and Sport.
BOX SCORE
"We were awesome defensively tonight and got a ton of positive touches, so that was the story of the game for sure," said Calgary head coach Jesse Knight. "And
Lindsay Russell was awesome. She hit her first shot off the bench, and it was enough to keep them off balance when she was on the floor."
The first set went in Calgary's favour, but the Cougars made it interesting after falling down 24-16. Regina reeled off seven straight points to cut the deficit to just one, but a service error by Kaitlyn Hughes finally gave the Dinos a 25-23 win. The Cougars evened up the match with a 25-23 win in the second set, but Calgary came right back with a 25-22 win in the third.
The Cougars overcame three late service errors in the fourth set and finally came away with a 25-23 win to force a fifth and deciding set. In the final set, Calgary took control with an early 7-1 run and won five of the last six points to clinch the match with a 15-7 win.
Calgary was led by
Raynell Lavertu, who had 13 kills and a match-high 23 digs.
Lindsey Doland had nine kills, 11 digs, and tied
Ali Sandholm for the team lead with five total blocks.
Laura Spence had nine kills on 18 attacks and led the Dinos with a .389 hitting percentage.
The No. 6-ranked Cougars had 60 kills to Calgary's 49, but were plagued by 18 serving errors over the course of the match. Four Cougars reached double figures in kills, including Beth Clark (17), Kaitlyn Hughes (13), Meagan Smith (12), and Roxanne Olynyk (10).
Hughes added 17 digs for a double-double, while Rebecca Rink had a team-leading 21 digs. Clark had a match-high six total blocks for Regina.
The win improves the No. 9-ranked Dinos' record to 7-8 on the season, while the Cougars fall to 9-6. The two teams will meet again on Saturday night at the CKHS, with first serve scheduled for 7 p.m MT.
-30-
