WINNIPEG – For the first time since 2000, the University of Calgary Dinos will not participate in the CIS Women's Volleyball Championship.

After being a fixture at the event for nine consecutive seasons, winning one gold, two silver, and four bronze medals in that span, the Dinos were eliminated from post-season competition Saturday night with a 3-0 loss to the Manitoba Bisons (25-18, 25-21, 25-15) in the Canada West quarterfinal. Manitoba wins the best-of-three series 2-0 and will host the conference Final Four tournament next weekend, from which the top three teams will advance to the national tournament.

BOX SCORE

“Full credit to Manitoba, they got confidence from last night and were really great tonight. We lost to a better team,” said second-year head coach Jesse Knight, who led the Dinos to a CIS silver medal in his first season last year. “We stepped up defensively and our middles played very well, but we just didn't have an answer for Ashley Voth tonight.”

Voth was a one-woman wrecking crew for the Bisons, racking up 12 kills without a single error and adding a match-high 12 digs as the Bisons eliminated the Dinos.

Momentum from Friday night's victory carried over into Saturday for Manitoba. In the opening set, the Bisons built a quick 8-3 lead over the Dinos, and made it 10-3 when Teegan Hunter picked up one of her six kills in the set, forcing Knight to call time out. But the Bisons' offense kept rolling as the Herd built a 19-12 lead, before a block by Tricia Mayba sealed the first set for the Bisons, 25-18.

The second set brought more of the same from the first, but this time Dinos head coach Jesse Knight to call timeout before the first technical timeout at 6-3. Although the Bisons lead grew to five two points later, the Dinos were able to get within one at 13-12. From that point, the two teams scored back and forth, with the Bisons going on a mini run near the end of the set to pick up the 25-21 win, and a chance to move on to the Canada West Final Four in the third set.

The Bisons were firing all cylinders in the third set, building a 10-5 lead before going on a 6-1 run to take a 16-6 lead into the second technical timeout. The lead was still at 10 points when Knight called his last timeout of the set at 18-8, but it wasn't enough as the Bisons took the third set 25-15, and swept the quarter final series.

Playing the final match of her CIS career, left side Raynell Lavertu led the way with eight kills for the Dinos while fellow fifth-year senior Laura Spence added four kills and six digs to close her career.

“Ray and Spence feel pretty good about what they did for the young players,” said Knight. “It's obviously disappointing to go out this early, but you can't always judge a season by the way it ends. There can only be one national champion, and I think that their legacy will live on through some of our younger players.”

Manitoba will host UBC, Trinity Western, and Regina in the single-elimination Final Four next weekend, with the top three teams joining the host Alberta Pandas at the CIS Championship in Edmonton March 4-6.

-UC-