CALGARY – The Calgary Dinos delivered a bounce-back performance Saturday night, avenging Friday's 3-1 loss with a 3-0 straight-sets victory over the Manitoba Bisons in Canada West women's volleyball action in the Jack Simpson Gym (25-21, 25-23, 25-23).

BOX SCORE

With a consistent, hardworking effort, the Dinos handed the third-ranked Bisons (3-1) their first loss of the season while improving to 2-2 on the year themselves.

The Dinos were paced by a 14-kill, 18-dig performance by left side Sarah Moncks, while Maura Hayes came off the bench to make a key serving run that led Calgary back from a seven-point deficit in the third set to emerge victorious.

“We went into tonight saying that the only thing that matters is us coming to work,” said Dinos bench boss Natalie Schwartz. “I doesn't matter if we're up 1-0 or down 20-13, we're going to work – and I think that we did that. In the third set we almost let them off the hook, but I think tonight was the first night this team showed some grit and some fight and willingness to work for the win.”

Calgary led wire-to-wire in the opening set on the way to a 25-21 victory, then went blow-for-blow with the Bisons in the second. Trailing 6-3 early in set two, the Dinos embarked on an 8-1 run to tip the scales back in their direction. Manitoba fought back on back-to-back kills from middle Jordana Milne to take a 21-19 lead, but the Dinos were able to close out the set thanks to a kill and an ace from Melanie Miazga and a punctuation mark from Moncks.

The pivotal third set started out well for the Dinos as they raced to a 7-2 lead, but a 15-4 Manitoba run highlighted by several Calgary attack errors made it seem as if the match was headed for a fourth set.

Enter Hayes.

The third-year Newfoundlander ended a Bisons run with her second kill of the night, and a rotation later stepped back to the service line. Her tough spin serve was a new dynamic for the Calgary offence and Manitoba had difficulty adjusting, and two aces later a 21-14 disadvantage was only 21-19. The Bisons again went up and led 23-19, but untimely errors by Rachel Cockrell and Crystal Mulder let the Dinos back into it, and Lindsey Doland iced the win with her 10th kill of the night.

“I think it just shows the depth on the team, and the different things we can utilize to create momentum for us,” said Schwartz. “It was phenomenal for Maura to be able to come in with that kind of confidence and poise off the bench.”

Doland's 10-kill night was eclipsed only by Moncks' 14, while Ali Sandholm and Miazga added nine each. Manitoba, meanwhile, was led by nine kills apiece from Tricia Mayba and Kristi Hunter, while Crystal Mulder added seven.

Calgary out-blocked the Bisons by a 10-8 margin and recorded 45 kills against Manitoba's 35.

The Dinos head on the road next week for a two-game, Thursday-Friday set against the Winnipeg Wesmen, while the Bisons return home to take on the newest members of the Canada West volleyball league, the UBC Okanagan Heat.

-UC-