LANGLEY, B.C. – The No. 3 ranked Calgary Dinos booked their spot in the Spartan Holiday Classic with an efficient 3-1 (25-20, 22-25, 25-15, 25-22) win over the UBC Thunderbirds Tuesday evening at the Langley Events Centre.

Calgary, 8-0 in conference play in the 2010-11 season, will face the host Trinity Western Spartans in the tournament championship Wednesday - a rematch of the 2010 CIS national final, a 3-1 victory by the Dinos.

The Dinos hit 42.3 per cent compared to just 21.1 per cent from UBC and Calgary utilized momentum from a dominant fourth set – one in which they hit 68.4 per cent – to earn a place in the tournament final Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. against the winner of the Trinity Western vs. Queen's game.

The Dinos were led by a wide ranging offense that saw them have four different players with double-digit kills (Graham Vigrass (12), Allen Meek (11), David Egan (11) and Curtis James (10)) and finish with a team hitting percentage of 42.3 per cent.

In the first set, Calgary took an early 4-3 lead and kept the pressure on UBC the rest of the way, never trailing and holding momentum hostage for much of the contest. The Dinos had five players with at least two kills in the opening set, including four from David Egan and three from Chris Hoag. Using a hitting percentage advantage of 50.0 per cent to 30.0 per cent, Calgary was on the mark early and took the set by a comfortable five points.

In the second frame, Calgary got off to a similar start as the first, storming to an 11-6 lead before UBC woke up. With a kill from Ben Chow, the T-Birds closed the gap to within four points and promptly went on a 6-1 run that tied the set 12-12. The game then went back a forth until UBC finally took an 18-17 lead, one they would never relinquish as they evened the match with a 25-22 win.

But after losing the second set and seemingly dispossessed of momentum, Calgary cranked its play up a few notches, raced to a 5-0 lead – which quickly became a 13-3 lead – and buried an athletically overmatched T-Birds side. Calgary outhit UBC 68.4 per cent to 0.0 per cent as they won 25-15 in a game the T-Birds were never in.

The fourth set was going the T-Birds way in the opening stages as they went on a 5-0 run to give themselves a tidy 7-4 lead. And then, later in the match a kill by Tanner Kozak restored that three-point lead and made it 15-12 for UBC.

But then, Calgary rediscovered its strength from the third set and went on a 4-0 run to give itself a 16-15 lead and the game's momentum. And once the Dinos had the lead, they didn't let it go, rolling to a 25-22 win.

Calgary's Jay Blankenau had a game-high 44 assists and also led the Dinos with nine digs. Vigrass led his team with five blocks.

For UBC, Ben Chow had a team-high 11 kills while Blair Bann led the T-Birds with eight digs and Chris Klassen led with 21 assists.

The T-Birds will now play the loser of the Queen's vs. Trinity Western game Wednesday at 6:00 p.m.

Match Notes: Calgary outblocked UBC 8.0 to 5.5…Ben Chow had a game-high three service aces, which was two more than Calgary had as a team.

-30-