CALGARY – With plenty still left to play for and just four matches left in the regular season, the Dinos volleyball teams – road warriors of late – return to the Jack Simpson Gym to close out the home portion of their 2009-10 schedules.

Both the men's and women's teams are in tight races heading into the playoffs and both control their own respective destinies, but where the men have some manoeuvrability, the women have little room for error.

At 11-3 on the regular season with four matches remaining on the schedule, the fourth-ranked Dinos men have the chance to do what the program hasn't accomplished since the 1993-94 season: finish first in the Canada West standings and play host to the conference championship. The Dinos enter the weekend with two games in hand over and one fewer loss than the Alberta Golden Bears, who sit at 12-4.

A first-place finish ensures hosting rights for the Canada West Final Four March 5-6 and, depending on the success of CIS championship host Thompson Rivers in the first round of the playoffs, could guarantee a spot at the CIS championship a week later in Kamloops.

Following a road sweep of the winless Regina Cougars last weekend, the Dinos play host to a far different foe in the 8-6 Brandon Bobcats, who are deep in the hunt for home court advantage. Brandon features Aussie sensation Paul Sanderson, the Canada West kills leader who has seen more balls set to him than any player in the conference this season. A candidate for player-of-the-year honours, Sanderson is backed up by a solid supporting cast that includes fellow power hitter Kevin Miller along with middle Jonathon Sloane, all under the tutelage of former national team player Russ Paddock.

Brandon won the two contests between the teams last season, both played in Brandon, by wide margins, and the Bobcats have not fallen to the Dinos in conference play since way back in December 2005.

Of course, the Calgary side Brandon will face this weekend is deep at all positions, led by no fewer than six fifth-year seniors – all of which will be honoured in a pre-game ceremony Saturday night before the final regular season home game of their CIS careers. Middle Oleg Podporin is the heart and soul of the Dinos and sits third in the conference in hitting percentage, while libero Tom Porta has flown under the radar for the most part but has anchored the Dinos' defence which is second in the conference in opponent hitting percentage. Right side Omar Langford, left sides Don MacNeill and Pierre Rocque, and libero Brendan Ray round out the six graduating players.

The Dinos women, meanwhile, find themselves in unfamiliar territory near the bottom of the Canada West playoff race in a battle with the Winnipeg Wesmen – their opponent next week. Their nine-year CIS championship attendance streak in dire straights, the lady Dinos will look to their veteran leadership as they host the fourth-ranked Bobcats this weekend.

Like the men, the Dinos women will recognize their three fifth-year seniors prior to Saturday night's game: Raynell Lavertu, Laura Spence, and Laura Littlejohn.

Lavertu and Spence have spent all five of their seasons with the Dinos, winning three CIS bronze and one silver medal in their first four years. A long-time libero, Lavertu made the transition to power hitter this year after Laura Wilson was injured in the off-season and is the team's kill leader with 146 heading into the weekend. Spence, meanwhile, sits eighth on the conference's hitting percentage list at .270 from her middle position.

Also a middle, Laura Littlejohn joined the Dinos last season after beginning her career at Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, B.C.

The Dinos earned an important split on the road at Regina last weekend, maintaining their No. 8 national ranking, while Brandon vaulted all the way from No. 9 to No. 4 after sweeping the Alberta Pandas at home. It's very possible that this series against the Dinos could be a preview of the conference quarterfinal series to be played Feb. 19-21, with the Bobcats currently sitting in second place and the Dinos seventh.

Brandon boasts Claire Willerton and Erin Visch-Krahn down the middle with Teagan Hunter on the right side and Jeryn Ruether on the left for head coach Lee Carter. Enjoying their best season since the program's founding, the Bobcats have lost just four matches on the year: one each to Manitoba and Trinity Western on the road, along with a pair at home to undefeated, No. 1-ranked UBC.

The Bobcats paid a visit to the Jack Simpson Gym earlier this season to take on the Dinos at the Husky Dino Cup and Calgary won both matches by 3-0 scores. Nearly four months later, however, the Dinos will face a much more determined Bobcats squad and will need to be on top of their game to come out ahead this weekend.

-UC-