CALGARY - For the first time ever, the Dinos volleyball teams welcome the UBC Okanagan Heat to the Jack Simpson Gym for one final weekend of Canada West competition in the 2011 calendar year.

For both Dinos teams, it's a chance to build some momentum heading into the exam break after both squads have battled with inconsistent play through the first 10 matches of the 2011-12 season. The tenth-ranked Calgary women enter the weekend with a 4-6 record, while the No. 6-ranked Dinos men are even at 5-5.

The Heat, battling through their inaugural season in Canada West, come in with a 2-6 record – but one of those wins was a quality road victory over fifth-ranked Manitoba. Their schedule – and their results – have been remarkably similar to those of the Dinos: both teams were swept by UBC, both split with Manitoba. UBC O split with Winnipeg while the Dinos were swept, and it's the Dinos' sweep of the Brandon Bobcats that has them two games up on the Heat in the standings heading into the weekend – though the newcomers do have a pair of contests in hand.

Calgary's schedule sees the Dinos play 12 matches before the break and just eight afterwards – so heading into January with a .500 record would be significant for Natalie Schwartz's crew.

Lindsey Doland and Mel Miazga come into the final weekend of the first half as the Dinos' kill leaders with 2.55 and 2.21 per set, respectively, and Schwartz has experimented with a couple of unique rotational systems that gave the Dinos some success last weekend against UBC. Though they dropped both matches, the Dinos did become just the second team of the season to take a set off the four-time defending national champions. Don't be surprised if both setters Sarah Lacny and Jordhynn Guy find themselves on the floor at the same time this weekend.

The Heat, meanwhile, is led offensively by third-year Myrte Schon and fourth-year Alex Basso, both outside hitters. Rookie Katy Klomps is having success as the team's leading blocker, while Schon is No. 6 in the conference in service aces with 13 in 29 sets played.

On the men's side, the Heat has been the surprise of Canada West so far, entering the weekend with a 3-5 record – again, two games behind the Dinos with two games in hand – but they're ranked No. 9 in the nation. After a lightning-quick start that included a sweep of Winnipeg and a split with UBC, the Heat has cooled off, dropping their past five matches without winning a single set in the process. Other than the first loss to UBC on Nov. 5, the rest have been away from Kelowna as UBC O made visits to Manitoba and Trinity Western.

With the trip to Calgary, the Christmas break, and a first-week trip to Brandon in January, the Heat doesn't actually return home until Jan. 20-21 – a stretch of 11 weeks between home games.

The Dinos are the defending Canada West champions, but haven't always looked it so far this season as they've sputtered to a 5-5 record. Last weekend, they fell 3-1 to UBC at War Memorial Gym in the Friday opener before dropping the Thunderbirds in straight sets to even their record back at .500.

Right side Allen Meek has begun to turn it on of late for the Dinos, averaging 4.00 kills per set – third best in Canada West. Jay Blankenau has more assists on the season than anyone else in the country at 425, nearly 11.5 per set, while reigning CIS player of the year Graham Vigrass is still rounding back into form after sitting out much of the pre-season with an injury.

The Dinos have been their own worst enemies on many nights during the season – and a case in point is last Friday's loss at UBC. Despite out-killing, out-blocking, and out-digging the Thunderbirds, the Dinos committed 16 service errors against just five for the Thunderbirds. In the final two sets, the Dinos put up 20 total attack errors, yet still lost both by just two points. Saturday, the stats were almost exactly the same across the board – except a cut in service errors down to just eight, and a total of 20 attack errors in the entire three-set match.

UBC Okanagan, on the other hand, has the Canada West kills leader in Nate Speijer, who averages 4.19 per set, while Riley McFarland edges into the top 15 with 3.04/set. Middle Brent Uniat is among the league leaders in hitting percentage at .340, landing him in seventh spot on the leaderboard.

The Dinos have the bye in the first week of league play in January and will return to the court Jan. 20-21 when they host the Saskatchewan Huskies in the Jack.

-UC-