CALGARY – Relying on a steady all-around attack and excellent defensive play, the University of Calgary Dinos had little trouble with Regina Cougars, beating the visitors by a count of three sets to none (25-15, 25-18, 25-16).
Calgary pestered the Cougars with their defence the entire evening, both on and off of the net. Calgary had 27 digs and 17 blocks in the three-set sprint, compared to only 13 and 6 for Regina.
Libero Blake Giles definitely set the tone for the Dinos defensive effort, turning a hard outside attack from Regina into a sprawling highlight-reel dig. Not to be outdone, outside hitter Allen Meek turned the dig around into a statement-making kill in front of Regina's attack line, sending Calgary into the matches' first technical timeout with an 8-1 advantage.
Calgary converted an impressive 39% of their kills, with two players – Andrew Visser and Patrick Lenaour – hitting at a 100% clip, with six kills between them. Conversely, Regina only managed an eight percent rate.
Meek nailed seven kills on the evening from his outside position before sharing time in the latter stages of the match, while fourth year middle Graham Vigrass converted seven of his ten attacks in a very efficient outing for the 2010 CIS Championship MVP.
Reserve player Levi Nutma made no mistake in the face of increased playing time as the match wore on, impressing the Dinos faithful with an evening- high nine kills. The fourth-year Mount Royal University transfer swung with conviction every chance he got, and also dug up three balls to aid his team.
The steadying presence for the Dinos all night was undoubtedly Ciaran McGovern though, who from the setter position distributed 27 balls to 10 different Dinos on the evening, who was a presence defensively. With four blocks and seven digs, the fourth year setter had an excellent night, and had arguably the best “Movember” moustache amidst a variety of options scattered on the court.
Regina had their chances at the net but just couldn't find a way to convert them. Joel Colter was a definite presence for the Cougars at the net, getting numerous open looks from different attacking positions, while Brody Waddell found the most real success – putting away eight kills on the evening.
Matt Hender and Caleb Eschbach combined for 21 assists for the Cougars, while Hender and Lindsey Izaak each had three digs.
Calgary and Regina will finish their weekend set on Saturday evening before taking some time off from conference action over the holidays.
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